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MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



ON THE 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



THOMAS H. TONGUE 

(Late a Representativk from Oregon,). 



)KLIVEREI) I.\ THK 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE, 



FIFTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 
Second Session. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTINC OFFICE. 
1903. 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Proceedings in the House c 

Address of Mr. Bishop, of Michigan g 

Address of Mr. Mondell, of Wyoming 16 

Address of Mr. Davidson, of Wisconsin 19 

Address of Mr. Bellamy, of North Carolina 26 

Address of Mr. Needham, of California 30 

Address of Mr. I<awrence, of Massachusetts 



00 



Address of Mr. Burton, of Ohio 40 

/ * Address of Mr. Coombs, of California 44 

i^ Address of Mr. Reeves, of Illinois 49 

Address of Mr. Dovener, of West Virginia 52 

Address of Mr. Sparkman, of Florida 55 

Address of Mr. Cushman, of Washington 60 

Proceedings in the Senate 63 

Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Oregon 68 

Address of Mr. Turner, of Washington 80 

Address of Mr. Perkins, of California 83 

Address of Mr. Dubois, of Idaho 88 

Address of Mr. Simon, of Oregon 92 



Death of Representative Tongue. 



Proceedings in the House. 

January 12, 1903. 
death of hon. thomas h. tongue. 

Mr. Moody of Oregon: Mr. Speaker, it becomes my painful 
dut}' to announce to the House of Representatives the calamity 
that has fallen upon our State by the sudden and untimeh- 
death of my distinguished colleague, Hon. Thomas H. 
Tongue, who has for the past six years represented his State 
and district in this body with honor and distinction. At a 
suitable time I shall ask that a day be set apart for paying 
tribute to his character and distinguished public services. I 
now ask for the immediate consideration of the resolutions 
which I send to the desk. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the sud- 
den death in this city of Hon. Thomas H. Tonguk, a Representative in 
this House from the First district of Oregon. 

Resolved, That the House do now adjourn, out of respect to the nieni- 
ory of the deceased member. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the Senate. 

The Speaker. The question is on agreeing to the reso- 
lutions. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 

5 



6 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

The Speaker. The Chair announces the following com- 
mittee on the part of the House to take charge of the funeral 
exercises: 

The Clerk read as follows: ' 

]\Ir. Mood}' of Oregon, Mr. Burton, Mr. Payne, Mr. Bishop, Mr. David- 
son, Mr. McLachlan, Mr. Ransdell of Louisiana, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Need- 
ham, Mr. Sutherland, Mr. Bates. 

The vSpeaker. In accordance with the action of the House 

ju.st taken, this bod}' (at 12 o'clock and 13 minutes p. m.) 

stands adjourned until 12 o'clock noon to-morrow. 

February 10, 1903. 

death of hon. thomavs h. tongue. 

Mr. Moody: Mr. Speaker, I desire to ask the House to fix 
a time for memorial addresses upon the life, character, and 
services of Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, deceased, late a member 
of this body. For that purpose I ask unanimous consent for 
the present consideration of the resolution which I send to the 
desk. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the House ineet on Sunday, the 22d day of February, at 
12 o'clock noon, for eulogies upon the life, character, and services of the 
Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, deceased, late a member of this House from 
the First Congressional district of Oregon. 

There being no objection, the House i)roceeded to the con- 
sideration of the resolution; which was adopted. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES, 

February 22, 1903. 

The House met at 12 o'clock m., and was called to order by 
Mr. Mood}^ as Speaker pro tempore. 

The Chaplain of the House, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., 
offered the following prayer: 

Eternal, ever living God, our Heavenly Father, we bless 
Thee for that spirit of patriotism and profound gratitude which 
moves the people throughout our nation to meet in commemo- 
ration of the birth of him whom we delight to call the Father 
of our Country. We thank Thee for that mentality which 
enabled him to grasp and solve great problems; for that 
divination which enabled him to penetrate the future and 
predict results; for that personality which enabled him to 
command men; for the ferver of his religious nature which 
enabled him to rely upon Thee for strength and support, and 
which brought him to his knees at Valley Forge, the darkest 
hour in that .struggle for liberty, right, and justice, where he 
received consolation and light. Long may his memory live in 
the hearts of his countrymen, and longer yet his deeds inspire 
men to truer, nobler life. 

We meet here to-day in special service to commemorate the 
lives and characters of men who have wrought upon the floor 
of this House and made conspicuous their names in history. 
We bless Thee for them and for what they did. Let the 
light which came down from Heaven in the person of Thy 
Son fill the hearts of the bereaved, that they may see beyond 
the veil that larger life in the mansions above. Through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read and ap- 
proved. 



Life and Character of Thomas H, Tongue, 



Mr. Moody (Mr. Coombs having taken the chair). Mr. 
Speaker, as the only member of the House of Representatives 
from the State of Oregon, the melancholy duty de\-olves upon 
me to offer the resolutions which I send to the desk. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That in pursuance of the special order heretofore adopted, 
the House proceed to pay tribute to the memory of Hon. Thomas H. 
Tongue, late a member of the House of Representatives from the State 
of Oregon. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be, and is hereby, instructed to send a copy 
of these resolutions to the family of the deceased. 

The resolutions were adopted. 

Mr. Moody. Mr. Speaker, a number of members of the 
House have indicated their desire to participate in the proceed- 
ings of to-day, and some of them are unavoidably aksent. I 
therefore ask unanimous consent for general leave to print. 

There being no objection, leave was granted. 



Address of Mr, Bishop, of Michigan. 



Address of Mr. Bishop, of Michigan. 

Mr. Speaker: We have met to-day in this House of Repre- 
sentatives to pay a last tribute of love and respect to our late 
distinguished member, the Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, of the 
State of Oregon. 

I am well assured that in this instance this is no perfunctory 
service, but a voluntary offering of our testimonials to the life, 
character, and public service of a man we all learned to admire 
and esteem while associated with us as a member of this body. 
His sudden demise at an age when his faculties and abilities 
were capable of the greatest benefit to himself, his family, his 
State, and his nation is one of tho.se mysterious workings of 
Providence to which we bow in submission, but with sorrow 
and regret. 

Human life should not be measured by the years which it 
has spanned, but by the deeds it has accomplished, by its 
achievements in human action, by the impress such a life may 
leave upon the community and the State; and judged by such 
a standard Mr. Tongue had far exceeded the ordinary limit of 
life, and has endowed his family and his community with a 
rich heritage in an honored name. 

He moved to Oregon with his parents in 1S59, when about 
15 years of age. He completed his education at Pacific Grove 
University, at Forest Grove, Oreg., in 1868. Equipped with 
a fair degree of learning, a rather frail body, and the genius of 
an untiring energy and industry, he commenced the battle of 
life. His was an industry which counts not the hours, but 
measures the task; that stops not at obstacles, but when they 



lo Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

are met rather rejoices at the opportunity of overcoming them. 
He had a courage, a confidence in his abiUt}- to accompHsh his 
objects and desires that never wavered or faltered, and an 
apphcation of mind and bod_v in every pursuit of Hfe which was 
almost irresistible. He entered the battle of life with no 
worldly goods. He carried his all in his head and in his heart, 
and still he was richer by far than many a young man who has 
inherited great riches. He was wealthy in those endowments 
of mind and character which command public confidence and 
demand the respect and support of men of business affairs. 

He stepped into the arena a young man, clear in intellect, 
with a high moral standard and with an ambition to well 
deserve the confidence of the public. 

He was admitted to the bar in 1870, and at once chose for 
his home the town of Hillsboro, situate in the beautiful val- 
le>' of the Willamette, where he continued to reside until his 
death. Here he labored with his hands and with his head. 
He despised no honorable task. He was incorruptible in every 
undertaking, either of private or public nature. His career 
as a lawyer was successful from the beginning, and he always 
retained a lucrative practice, but with a temperament so active 
as was his he could not confine himself wholly to his law prac- 
tice and engaged quite extensiveh- in farming and stock 
raising, of which he was very fond. 

He took little part in the political affairs of his State luitil 
1888, although from boyhood he had identified himself with 
and had a keen interest and insight in the policy and success 
of the Republican party. 

In 1888 he was elected to the senate of his vState and became 
chairman of the judiciary committee. From that time until 
his death he was one of the most prominent factors in the 
political affairs of his vState. 



Address of Mr. Bishop, of Michigan. ii 

He combined those essential characteristics of statesmanship, 
integrity of purpose and intuitive and fearless adherence to 
the principles of fairness and justice, with a patriotism which 
was almost a passion. 

He loved his country, he was proud of his State, and he had 
a generous affection for all of her citizens. 

He was first elected to the Fifty-fifth Congress, and was 
subsequently elected to the Fift^'-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and 
Fifty-eighth Congresses. He came in with the Administration 
of President McKinley, heartily in sympath}- with the measures 
and policies recommended by that distinguished President. 

He was well equipped in mental training and experience 
obtained in the legislature of his own vState to assume the 
arduous and often exacting duties of a member of this body. 

His modest and retiring demeanor when he first took his 
seat upon this floor kept his great abihty as an orator and an 
analytic debater concealed through an entire session of Con- 
gress; but earl}- in the second session of the Fifty-fifth Con- 
gress, when the Hawaiian Islands w^ere asking admission to 
this Republic, he made a speech upon the question of the 
admission of those islands which called the attention of the 
House and the entire country to his great ability as a statesman 
and forensic debater. 

His supreme confidence in his country and her duty, her 
destiny, and her future development can not better be por- 
trayed than by a brief quotation from his speech made at that 
time . 

He said : 

I have neither the time nor the inclination to discuss the constitutional 
questions involved in this resolution. vSomewhere there must, and does, 
reside the sovereign right to annex a people willing to become a part of 
our Government. I regret that our friends upon the other side of the 
House are onlv able to see in the Constitution of this country, not a chart 



12 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

of liberty and a guaranty of freedom, bnt chains that bind the hands and 
fetter the feet of a strong young nation struggling to work out its grand 
destin\-. 

We need these islands, not to enable us to extend our territorial bound- 
aries, but our trade; not political, but commercial empire; not an outlet 
for growing population, but for growing energies, increasing productions, 
expanding exports. This is but the beginning. In the coming century 
the most marked industrial development the world will witness will be in 
the eastern part of Asia. Her people are awakening from the sleep of 
centuries. An old but strong giant is just realizing its strength. Realiz- 
ing their ignorance, the}' are calling upon us to enlighten and lead them. 
Led by American skill, American enterprise, American ingenuity, 
inspired by American energy, their growth and deyelopment will be the 
maryel of the twentieth century. 

Mr. Tongue \va.s, in all hi.s e.s.sential characteristics, a type 
of the splendid manhood developed with the developing coun- 
try of the far West. His own estimate of the people who 
have grown into a mighty empire on the Pacific coast is best 
expressed in his own words, when he says: 

The fertilit}- of our soil, the wealth of our forests, the extent of our 
domain, the enterprise and intelligence of our people, are not known in 
the East. Our boundless prairies, our magnificent forests, our yast min- 
eral wealth, the healthfulness and salubrity of our climate, escape your 
notice. Our people are but little better understood. The pioneer men 
and women who settled in the West were strong and rugged in health as 
in character, full of energy, courageous in enterprise, thoughtfvil and 
ambitious. 

The people of the West are Ijound but little by ancient prejudices. 
They look little to the past; rather to the present and the future. They 
prefer }-ourself to your ancestry. They care little for what you haye been 
or for what you possess, but much for what you are and what you can do. 
In the West honest work has neyer ceased to be honorable. With her 
rugged people the sweat of labor is a kingly crown. Wealth and position 
earned by honest toil and laudable endeavor are esteemed more than 
tho.se acquired by the toil and effort of others. 

Thus, in measuring up the characteri.stics of his own people, 
he characterizes most effectually himself as one of the highest 
tj'pes of the development of that cotnitry. 

He was, early i;i his Congressional career, assigned to the 



Address of Mr. Bishop, of Michiga7i. > 13 

Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands and to the Committee 
on Rivers and Harbors. In the Committee on Irrigation of 
Arid Lands, of which he subsequent!}- became chairman, he 
showed a deep interest and comprehensive thought and knowl- 
edge of the development and reclamation of those vast but 
rich areas of our public domain which are to-day barren, but 
which may be made fertile by irrigation and later become the 
homes of settlers and grow into fertile fields. 

As a member of the Rivers and Harbors Committee he has 
always been most earnest in his advocacy of the improvement, 
not only of the waterways of his own State, but of the entire 
Pacific coast. The large appropriations secured for such 
improvements in the recent Congresses can be largely traced 
to his ever-watchful care for the interests of the Pacific coast. 
The improvement of the Columbia River at its mouth and 
at The Dalles was one of the measures that was nearest his 
heart. He had stated that if he could secure a deep waterway 
in the Columbia River from The Dalles to the sea he would 
ask for no more honorable or enduring monument to his 
memor}-. 

He saw in the improvement of that river at its mouth the 
precursor of a commerce which would invite the vessels of all 
nations to trade in the valleys of that great waterway and 
would add to the wealth and development of his State. 

He saw immense possibilities in the improvement at The 
Dalles and the connecting of the Upper and Lower Columbia 
by a navigable waterway which would tend to the development 
of the most fertile and productive and, I might add, the 
largest, wheat-growing area in the world, embracing eastern 
Oregon, eastern Washington, and western Idaho— an area 
larger than the States of New York and Pennsylvania com- 
bined — which is now largely awaiting the advantages to be 



14 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

derived by the improvement of The Dalles to make this large 
area the homt of millions of prosperous and happy people. 
Such were his dreams and his ambitions; to such purpose he 
lent his every energy of mind and body. With him death 
came all too soon. His purposes were well formed, but the 
Grim Reaper took him before the harvest was fully ripe. 
Others will take up the work and carry on the projects, the 
foundations for which he has so securely laid. . 

It was my sad duty, as one of the members of a committee, 
to accompany his remains from the city of Washington to 
their last resting place, in the State he so dearly loved. 

The love and veneration in which he was held were most 
amply testified to by the people of the entire State as soon 
as we had entered its borders. Every town and hamlet con- 
tributed its entire quota of citizens, who stood along the track 
with bowed and uncovered heads and with sad faces to watch 
the passing of our train, bearing all that was left of the friend 
they loved and the statesman the}- had lost. 

In his own town, on the day of the funeral, thousands 
gathered from all parts of the State. The governor, all of 
the State officers, both branches of the legislature, the supreme 
court, and the judges of the various courts, together with other 
distinguished citizens of the State, were all there to testify to 
their love and esteem and their realization of their bereave- 
ment. As many as could gathered in the little church which 
he made his Christian home almost from boyhood, while the 
sorrowing multitude stood along the street on the outside, 
heedless of the inclement weather, anxious only to show how 
keenly they felt the loss of their friend and their repre- 
.sentative. 

Inside the little church, amidst a wealth of flowers, the 
old pastor, with trembling \-oice and faltering words, .spoke 



Address of Mr. Bishop, of Michigan. 15 

but the eclio of all who had known Mr. Tongue during his 
lifetime. It was a touching scene, and one might well say 
that thrice blest is the man who can thus live in a connnunity 
and thus die, retaining always the respect, love, and esteem 
of all. 

We followed him to his last resting place in the little grove 
of pine trees outside of town and consigned him to mother 
earth in the valley of the Willamette, whose very soil he had 
enriched by his toil among the people who had watched his 
growth from boyhood, who had watched him in his rising 
career, who had rejoiced with his success, and who had 
sorrowed with his family at the loss of their friend. 

The path he had trod from his young manhood to the last 
hour of his life was not one of ease and worldly pleasure. 
He courted contact with the stern realities, and matched his 
great abilities, his sturdy will, and tireless endeavor against 
the obstacles that might appall one less reliant. But all 
along that pathway are planted the flowers of friendship, of 
kindly and generous deeds, which have given out their sweet 
perfume to bless and gladden the lives of others, and which 
will continue to grow and shed their fragrance in the years 
to come. 



1 6 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 



ADDRESS OF Mr. MONDELL, OF WYOMING, 

Mr. Speaker: The uncertainty of our tenure of this house 
of clay was brought starthngly to the attention of each of us 
with the passing of our friend and colleague in whose memory 
we are gathered to-day. One day in the enjoyment of usual 
health, busily engaged in the discharge of duty and looking 
confidently forward to the reaUzation of hopes and plans, and 
the next called from this scene of labor and endeavor to the 
quiet of the grave and the untried experiences of the land 
beyond the border. 

It is best that it should be so; that the time of our going 
should be veiled in uncertainty; that there be no visible 
measure of the span of life, no fixed date of departure hence, 
for we are by this admonished to so live and strive at all times 
that when our "summons come to join the innumerable 
caravan which moves unto the silent halls of death ' ' we may 
be found like our departed friend, if not with our work and 
labor completed, at least our tasks so planned and wrought, 
that portion so well done, that our life and labors shall present 
no loose and tangled ends, no ill-formed plans half executed, 
but so far as time was granted a perfect plan well Avrought, 
the skeins and strands of life well in hand, the structure of our 
hopes and aims so intelligentl>- and secureh- reared that he 
who comes after may build with confidence on the foundations 
we have laid, and complete witli assurance of harmony of plan 
with purpose the work we had begun. 

Thomas H. Tongue was a doer of deeds, an earnest thinker, 
a faithful wcM'ker. Whatever he set his hand to do he did 



Address of J\/r. l\Iondcll, of Wyoming. 17 

with his might. With him no task was trivial, no duty to 
be performed or responsibility laid was lightly esteemed or 
slightingly executed. He was one of those serious, sturdy 
natures to whom thoroughness and devotion to duty in every 
detail is a religion, almost a fetich. His industry and earnest- 
ness made him a valuable and effective member of this body 
and commanded the respect and admiration of his colleagues. 
In committee he was a power by reason of his mastery of 
the subjects to which he gave his attention and on the 
floor efficient b}- his earnestness and the intense conviction 
which was apparent in all his utterances. 

As is generally the case with deep and earnest natures, he 
was tender of heart and kindly of spirit, but these qualities he 
most discovered to those who were intimate with him, and 
particularly to those bound to him by ties of affection and 
kinship. He was a good husband, a loving and indulgent 
father, his family was ever dear to him as he to them, and their 
happiness and welfare was ever uppermost in his thoughts. 

And so one more name is added to the roll of faithful serv- 
ants of honest, earnest representatives of the people who have 
passed from the labors here to the rewards of faithful service 
hereafter. Those whose representative he was on this floor 
have lost an earnest champion and an effective advocate, the 
country a painstaking and intelligent lawmaker, his friends a 
kindly companion, his family a loving guardian and a strong 
defender. 

His advice will be missed in counsel and his voice in debate, 
but his labors for his State and the nation and his helpful 
influence in all things shall be neither lost nor forgotten. 

It is at once a most sobering and cheering thought that the 
influence of our lives is never lost and that whatever else may 
be mortal and transitory our action and influence are immortal; 
H. Doc. 463 2 



1 8 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

that the trains of causes that our words, thoughts, and deeds 
set in motion move ever onward and outward through the 
medium of mind and matter, beyond the shores of the narrow 
span we call time to the boundless shores of eternity. How^ 
all important, then, it is that, like our departed friend, all our 
acts and all our influences shall be for good, that through them 
we ma\' live through measureless distances and endless periods, 
to our everlasting credit and the never-ending benefit of others. 



Address of Mr. Davidson^ oj Wisconsin, 19 



Address of Mr. Davidson, of Wisconsin, 

Mr. Speaker: How appropriate it is that on this vSabbath 
day, having rested from our usual vocations, and with no 
thought of legislation or suggestion of business, we should here 
assemble for the purpose of paying our tribute to the memory 
of one who respected the Sabbath day and kept it holy. On 
this day, when those who acknowledge allegience to the Great 
Master of the Universe are wont to assemble and invoke His 
spirit for their guidance and aid, we, the friends and colleagues 
of Thomas H. Tongue, here assemble for the laudable pur- 
pose of doing honor to the memory of one who honored this 
House by being a member of it, and whose noble and generous 
deeds in behalf of his country, his State, his people, and his 
family will ever be cherished in the memory of those who 
knew him. 

For over forty-four years Thomas H. Tongue had been a 
resident of the State of Oregon. His parents were among 
those sturdy pioneers who in the earl}^ days made their way 
into the valle}' of the Willamette, where they builded for them- 
selves a home in the wilderness. Our late colleague was then 
a boy of tender 5^ears, but from that time to the day of his 
death he labored with all his . strength and all his energy for 
the development of that splendid section of our common 
country. In due time he completed a college and law course 
and commenced the practice of his profession. Always faith- 
ful in the discharge of every duty, he won the confidence of 
his neighbors and the people of his State, and gradually he 
was advanced from one position to another until in the election 



20 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

of 1896 he was chosen as Representative from the First district 
of Oregon to the National Congress. 

That he retained the confidence and esteem of his people is 
evidenced by the ever-increasing majorities which he received 
at the elections which returned him to the Fifty-sixth and 
Fifty-seventh Congresses, and also to the Fifty-eighth. While 
I had the honor of knowing him in a general way during the 
Fifty-fifth Congress, it was not until the Fifty-sixth Congress 
that, by reason of having been assigned to the same committee 
with him, that of Rivers and Harbors, I came to know him 
more intimately. The Committee on Rivers and Harbors in 
the discharge of its duties know.'^ neither partisanship nor sec- 
tionalism. Hence its members become closely attached to each 
other and work together most harmoniously. 

Those who served with Mr. Tongue on that committee 
know how faithfulh- he studied every proposition; how care- 
fully he protected the Public Treasury from unwise expendi- 
ture, and now zealously he strove for those things which he 
believed to be right and just. His other committee assign- 
ments gave him exceptional opportunity to advance and pro- 
tect the interests of his section of the country, and he always 
availed himself of every legitimate opportunity to work for 
those things which would be of benefit not only to the whole 
country, but to the vState which in i)art he had the honor to 
represent. 

I am told that he was always very attentive to departmental 
duties, and we know that on the floor of this House he was 
always faithful in attendance, watchful of legislation, and as 
ready always to support a good measure as to defeat a vicious 
one. Knowing all this, it is hard for us to realize that his 
work was finished and that the lime had come for him to 
rest from his labors. Yet it is not for us to question, it is 



Address of Mr, Davidson, of IVisconsm. 21 

not for us to doubt. He who rules the universe and deter- 
mines all things had thus ordained, and we can not believe 
that the book of his life was closed until the accounts were 
fully balanced. Him whom our friend believed in called him 
hence, and as he had faithfull}- followed the Master in this 
life he was ready to answer ' ' Here am I ' ' when the summons 
came. 

In our weakness and frailty we can not understand why 
he who seemed so well and strong, so full of life and energy, 
so able and willing to serve his people and his country, should 
be called away at such a time and so suddenly. Yet some 
day we will understand, "for now we see through a glass, 
darkly; but then face to face; now we know in part; then 
we shall know even as we are known." 

On Sunday, January 11, 1903, at the very hour when at 
his home his family and friends were wont to attend on divine 
service, he, at the capital city, where his duty called him, 
and surrounded only by a portion of his family, was sum- 
moned, almost without warning, into the presence of his 
Maker. Verily may it be said of him, as was said by 
Napoleon of a certain soldier of France, "He died on the 
field of honor." 

We who were selected by the Congress of the United States 
to act as escort to his remains performed that duty to the 
best of our ability. 

On Monday evening, the day following his death, we com- 
menced that long, .sad journey. With tho.se members of his 
family who were here we traveled to the west. For five days 
that journey continued. By night and by day we traveled over 
plains, across rivers, and through mountain passes. Back over 
the same route by which he had so lately come, in the strength 
of his manhood, to discharge the obligations impo.sed upon him 



22 Life a7id Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

by his people, we now bore his hfeless remains. Down through 
that section ' ' where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound save 
its owai dashing" we bore him. 

Past The Dalles and the Cascades, the Falls of Multnomah, 
and the Bridal Veil, through the metropolis city of his vState, 
the citv in whose splendid commercial and industrial develop- 
ment he took such pride, and where tho.se who knew his worth 
came in large numbers to join us, we journeyed, and finally out 
to Hillsboro, his home, we took him. There ju.st as the shades 
of night were falling, just as the clouds of darkness were set- 
tling o'er the earth and when even the very air seemed heavy 
with sorrow, and the raindrops fell as falls the tears of affection 
upon a loved one's bier, we gave over to his fraternal compan- 
ions and brothers the lifeless remains of our late colleague, 
while his children, whom we had likewise accompanied, were 
tenderly received into the arms of friends and neighbors and 
e.scorted to that home where the sorely stricken wife and 
mother waited their return. 

On the following day, Sunday, the funeral services were 
held. The remains were first taken to the county court-house, 
where as a young lawyer ]Mr. Tonguk had first pleaded the 
cause of justice, and where in the practice of his jirofession he 
had won victories for truth and right, and there the public 
were given an opportunity to gaze for the last time upon the 
face of their representative and friend. 

That he was honored by the people and loved \^\ his neigh- 
bors was evidenced by the large concour.se of people who 
assembled on that occasion. The governor and the leading 
officers of the vState were there. Nearlv all the members of 
both branches of the legislature were there. The societies of 
which he had l)een a faithful and useful member, the Masons, 
the Odd I'Vllows, the Knights of r\thias, attended in large 



Address of Mr. Davidson, of Wisconsin. 23 

delegations, each member wearing the badge of mourning and 
each feehng he had indeed lost a brother. 

The floral decorations were most beautiful, ranging from 
large set pieces to the smallest bouquet, and came alike from 
the rich and poor, evidence of the love and affection which all 
the people had for him. 

The services proper were held in the Methodist Church, of 
^vhich ISIr. Tongue had for years been a member, and were 
conducted by the pastors of the different churches of the 
village. The prayer was offered by Rev. Cline, a former 
pastor of the church and an intimate friend of the family, and 
the principal address was delivered by Dr. Rockwell, of Port- 
land, who also had long been a personal friend of the deceased 
and of his family. 

At the conclusion of the services at the church the remains 
were taken to the cemetery. There, just as the sun was sink- 
ing and as twilight came about us, beneath the shadow of the 
pine and fir, and almost within view of the place which had 
for so long been his home, his remains, according to the beau- 
tiful burial ser\-ice of the Masonic order, were consigned to 
their last resting place. And there we left him. Left him 
with those with whom and for whon: he had so long labored. 
Left him with those whom he loved and those whom he had 
served. To them his lifeless clay belongs, but the splendid 
achievements he had wrought for his people and for his 
country belong not alone to the people of Hillsboro, but as well 
to the State of Oregon and to the country, and long will those 
who knew and appreciated his worth mourn his death. 

The people of Hillsboro lost a good neighbor and faithful 
friend, an industrious and active citizen. The State of Oregon 
lost a man who, by reason of his ability and experience, was 
eminently qualified to care for its interests and advance its 



24 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

welfare, and the nation lost a public sen-ant whose breadth of 
mind and conscientious study made him one of its most useful 
legislators. 

But there are some who by reason of his death have suffered 
a still greater loss. The home circle, which to him was ever 
the center of all his earthly affections, has been broken. The 
aged parents have lost the care and protection of a dutiful son. 
His children have lost a kind-hearted and loving parent, 
and she who for so many years had been the object of his 
tenderest care and .solicitude has lost a true and devoted 
husband. 

Within the sacred portals of that home, now the abode of 
sorrow and affliction, we would not intrude. Words of com- 
fort and consolation from practical strangers are of but little 
avail; yet we venture out of our sincere sympathy to offer 
them. To the broken-hearted widow it may seem now as if 
there was no ray of light from out the future; yet "He who 
doeth all things well" has said to those .so sorely afflicted, " I 
will not leave thee nor forsake thee." Left to comfort, sus- 
tain, and protect her are the children of her family, manly 
sons and queenly, loving daughters, who will ever do their 
utmo.st to take the place of the one who has gone on before. 
Upon their strong arms she can lean for support until finally 
waking on the other shore, she will find stretched out to greet 
her the arms of him who for so many years sheltered and 
protected her here. 

In that romance of early Indian Oregon the author of the 
" Bridge of the Gods" has beautifully expressed the thought 
of that union hereafter when referring to the unchangeable- 
ness of the mighty Columbia, which, notwithstanding con.stant 
and continuous change in other things, still flows onward, 



Addu'ss of I\Ir. Davidson, of Wisconsin. 25 

ever onward, to the sea. He says, "Generation after genera- 
tion, daring hunter, ardent discoverer, silent Indian — all the 
shadowy peoples of the past have sailed its waters as we sail 
them, have lived perplexed and haunted by mystery as we 
live, have gone out into the Great Darkness with hearts full 
of wistful doubt and questioning, as we go; and still the river 
holds its course, bright, beautiful, inscrutable. It stays; we 
go. Is there anything beyond the darkness into which 
generation follows generation and race follow\s race? Surely 
there is an after life, where light and peace shall come to all 
who, however defeated, have tried to be true and loyal; 
where the burden shall be lifted and the heartache shall cease; 
when all the love and hope that slipped away from us here 
shall be given back to us again and given back forever." 



26 Life and Character of Thomas H, Tongice, 



Address of Mr. Bellamy, of North Carolina. 

Mr. Speaker: When the announcement was made on Sun- 
day, January ii last, that our colleague the Hon. Thomas 
H. Tongue, had suddenly expired at his place of residence 
in this city, it cast a gloom over his friends and all of his 
associates who had known him well. Death came to him 
without warning and as suddeul}' as ' ' the twinkling of the 
eye." Although at the time the partner of his bosom, his 
beloved wife, was absent at their home in the far distant 
West, he had a son and daughter present to tenderly care 
for him. 

To those whose lives have not been li\-ed with virtue and 
charity, as prescribed h\ the standard of the Christian, the 
sudden and iniexpected approach of the ' ' dread messenger ' ' 
must come with horror and with awe. But when death 
knocks at the door of one who has lived in peace with his 
God and his fellow-man, who has practiced the sublime tenets 
of the Golden Rule and discharged his duty to society by a 
clean and honorable life, we can but know that his approach 
must be greeted with calm solemnit\- and reverential regard, 
for the peace and resignation of the true Christian betokens 
this fact and is a bles.sed assurance thereof. So it must have 
been with our distinguished departed friend on his entrance 
to his eternal journey, that "dull, m\-sterious exodus of 
death. ' ' 

My acquaintance with him began in the Fifty-sixth Con- 
gress, but it was not until the present Congress, when he 
was made chairman of the Committee on Irrigation of Arid 



Address of Mr. Bellamy, of N'orth Carolina. 27 

Lands, that I learned to know him well. I found him ever 
a sincere, honest, patient, painstaking, and courteous com- 
panion, who alwa^'s conscicntiousl}- discharged ever}" duty 
devolving upon him, but specially made his legislative work a 
matter of first importance, to which every other duty must 
yield. 

He rareh' addressed the House, but when an}- pending 
legislation affecting his people or his section claimed his 
attention, he always spoke with a clearness and directness 
and with such true sincerity of purpose that he at once 
secured and held the attention of his colleagues — a power 
which few members possess. 

I was one of the funeral escort that accompanied his remains 
t-o his far distant home, near the Pacific coast. 

Over the dreary plains and prairies, along the banks of the 
beautiful and historic Columbia, whose legends he was so wont 
to relate, we patiently bore him until we reached his home in 
the land of the .setting sun, where we tenderly gave him to his 
sorrowing famih' and friends; and there all that was mortal of 
our esteemed colleague was laid in the tomb, where he will rest 
in the beautiful valley of the Willamette until resurrection 
morn. 

Thomas H. Tongue must have been a rare man, for no 
ordinary man could have had paid to him the tribute of love 
and respect which was tendered his mortal remains. Unusual 
public and civic honors w'ere shown him, and the attendant 
ceremonies would have befitted the demise of an exalted ruler. 
Not only his neighbors at his home in the town of Hillsboro, 
but friends from distant parts of the State of Oregon came to 
pay tribute of respect to his memory. 

Both branches of the legislature of his State came from the 
capital to show him reverence, those bodies having adjourned 



28 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

in his honor. The members of the supreme court were present 
to share in the sorrow. To show him respect came from the 
city of Portland many of its best citizens, irrespective of poHt- 
ical affiliations; and the society of Odd Fellows, Masons, 
Pythians. and other orders of which he was an honored mem- 
ber attended the funeral in a body. All churches united in 
their services at his funeral. So great an outpouring of all 
classes is seldom seen, showing esteem and respect to the mem- 
ory of their fellow-man; but such honors were richly de.serv^ed 
by the able and efficient legislator, the pure and honorable man, 
and the faithful public servant that he was. 

Our friend was of "faithful English blood." "No perse- 
cution merciless and blind drove over the sea, that desert 
desolate," this man and his family, as was the lot of many of 
the first and early settlers of the Eastern coast. Attracted by 
the tempting allurements of the fertile land of the West, to 
better their fortunes came his parents and settled in the splen- 
did valley of the Willamette. Reared in the school of the 
pioneer, he received that strong and .sturdy training which 
develops character and self-reliance. He grew to manhood 
imbued with the best thoughts and aspirations of a liberty- 
loving American and impressed b}' the environments of a 
section rich in fertility as well as in story and in lore. 

V>\ his loftv character and his devotion to duty he became 
thoroughly embedded in the confidence of his people. He 
lived a life of rectitude and died with the genuine regret of his 
colleagues and his fellow-countrymen. If I were a.sked what 
were his most .striking characteristics displayed in his inter- 
course with his fellow-members of Congre.ss, I should .say 
honesty and a thorough dedication of himself to duty — as a 
great dramatist calls it, "the modesty of fearful duty." 

In this world, if we conduct ourselves so as to justly merit 



Address of Mr. Bellamy, of North Carolina. 29 

the esteem and confidence of our fellow-men, and establish 
a character for sterling integrity, for lofty patriotism, for 
unswerving loyalty to duty and the possession of Christian 
principles, we will not have lived our lives in vain. Such was 
the conduct and such the character of the late Hon. Thomas 
H. ToxGUE, and his children and his children's children may 
delight in the possession of this rich heritage which he has so 
surely transmitted to them. 



30 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 



Address of Mr, Needham, of California. 

Mr. vSpEAKER: As a Representative in part, upon this floor, 
from one of the Pacific coast States, I feel it my duty to bear 
testimony to the high character, worth, and abiHty of the late 
Tho3IAS H. Tongue, whose sudden death so shocked the 
membership of this House and brought poignant grief to his 
family and his friends and a deep feeling of almost irreparable 
loss to the vState of Oregon. 

As disclosed by the Congressional Directory, Thomas H. 
Tongue was one of sixteen members elected to this House 
of the Fifty-seventh Congress who was of foreign birth and 
parentage. Notwithstanding his foreign birth, however, he 
was an intense i\nierican in the highest sense of the Avord. 
His parents in his early life came to this country and settled 
in Oregon, where he was educated and where he achieved his 
success. 

Mr. Tongue was intensely loyal to the State of Oregon, to 
the Pacific coast, and to the West. This loyalty, however, 
was neither narrow nor sectional. He believed most firmly 
that whatever was beneficial to the nation was beneficial as 
well to the Pacific coast and to the West. He had no sym- 
pathy nor i)atience with those who advocated that a policy 
beneficial to the East was antagoni.stic to the welfare of the 
We.st, and his votes upon this floor exemplif>- this belief, and 
yet, at the same time, he zealously and loyally, and with signal 
ability and success, promoted and protected, by his course in 
this bodv. the true interests of his constituency and of his 
State. 



Address of Mr. N^eedham. of California. 31 

Mr. Tongue, immediately upon his admission to the bar in 
the year 1S70, began the practice of law at Hillsboro. He was 
unusually successful, achieving a high standing at the bar of 
his State, a bar numbering among its members some of the 
great legal lights of our country. Hillsboro is a small town of 
about fifteen hundred inhabitants. It is not far from Port- 
land, the metropolis of Oregon, and although his reputation as 
a lawyer was such that he could probably have removed to the 
larger field of Portland, where undoubtedly he would have 
been accorded immediate recognition, still his love for and 
loyalty to the community in which he had achieved his suc- 
cesses were so great that the thought of removing did not 
appeal to him. Before his death he had plans drawn for the 
erection of a building in Hillsboro, in which he hoped to 
maintain a thoroughly modern law office. His life is an 
exemplification of the fact that as great success can be 
achieved in the small rural communities as in the more 
congested centers of population. 

In this rural communit}' his life work, outside of that 
accompHshed in this Hall, was wrought. Here his material 
interests were centered. In addition to his long and active 
career as a lawyer he found time to engage in agricultural 
pursuits and in the rai.sing of live stock. He was a great lover 
of the hor.se — the noblest of all animals. He bred and raised 
some of the best trotting stock in Oregon. His interest and 
pride in this avocation were simply becau.se of his love for this 
noble beast. 

His work as a member of this body during the Fifty-fifth, 
Fifty-sixth, and Fifty -seventh Congresses is well known to us 
all. Literally .speaking, he died in harness at the very height 
of his usefulness, and in his death the State of Oregon loses a 
iLseful, loyal, and experienced Representative, and this House 



32 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongiie. 

a coiisen-ative, painstaking member, and many of us a true 
friend. 

He is survived b}' his aged father and mother, loving wife, 
three beautiful daughters, and two manlj^ sons. To them his 
sudden demise is a cruel blow; yet this obedient son, this 
loving husband, this kindly father left an example to them, 
and time in its course, let us hope, may temper the grief 
which now seems almost inconsolable. 

As one of and wdth those appointed by the Speaker of this 
House to accompau}' the remains of our late colleague to his 
final resting place, and in the presence of hundreds of his 
neighbors and friends, we laid him in that land described by 
Joaquin Miller as — 

The uiist-kissed shores of Oregon. 



Address of Mr. Lawrence, of Massachusetts. 



oo 



Address of Mr. Lawrence, of Massachusetts. 

Mr. Speaker: I can hope to add little to the eloquent and 
touchii:g tribute.s which have to-da.v been paid to the memory 
of Thomas H. Tongue. Those who knew him well and inti- 
mately have told the story of his public life, of his long and 
faithful service to the people of his State and country. And 
yet I feel that I must speak at least briefly of my own sense 
of personal loss and of the esteem I had for one who by ability 
and unflagging industry had made himself an honored and 
useful member of this House. 

His sudden death was so great a shock to me that I can 
hardly 3'et realize that he has gone; that a life so full of use- 
fulness and promise has ended. He was at the very height of 
that u.sefulness when the summons came. Had he been per- 
mitted to live, no one who knew of the faithfulness with which 
he had served the people of his State and of their firm and 
abiding confidence in him could doubt that he would have 
continued in the public service for many years, and would have 
been called to positions of still greater honor and responsibility. 
It is not to be wondered at that the people of Oregon sincerely 
mourn the loss of one who worked with all his strength for 
their interests, who had for so many years stood that most 
satisfactory of all tests, the test of service, and had not been 
found wanting. 

It is my good fortune to have served upon the same com- 
mittee with him for four years. The long weeks and months 
spent in the committee room in the preparation of great appro- 
priation bills afford an unusual opportunity to form a clear and 
just estimate of the character and worth of a man. The hearty 
H. Doc. 463 3 



34 Life ana Character of Tlwvias H. Tongue. 

tributes to which you have just Hstened show the respect and 
regard in which Mr. Tongue was held b}^ those who have been 
so intimately associated with him in the public service. They 
have borne testimony to an honest admiration for sterling 
qualities and devotion to duty. 

He was attentive to business and showed so thorough a 
knowledge of commercial conditions and the needs of the 
country that we always derived profit from listening to his 
views. Ready at all times to fight for the interests of his 
State, he was nevertheless broad-minded and liberal in his 
views, and did not seek to advance the welfare of his own part 
of the country by sacrificing that of another section. In the 
committee room of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors there 
is a sincere purpose to eliminate party lines and sectional lines 
in the consideration of projects which are designed to promote 
the interests of our common country. With that purpose Mr. 
Tongue was in hearty accord and never permitted his actions 
to be governed b^^ narrow prejudice. As a member of that 
committee, I esteem it a privilege to be permitted to give 
public expression, inadequate though it be, to my appre- 
ciation of his faithfulness and my realization of the loss to the 
public service caused by his untimely death. 

About two years ago I had the pleasure of visiting his home 
and meeting man\- of his friends and neighbors. I am glad I 
had that opportunity to witness the regard in which he was 
held by those among whom he had lived for so many years. 
Their pride in him was very evident; that the>' looked on him 
as a tried and true friend was clear. After all, there is no 
success in life which cau bring to a man the happiness which 
comes from the friendship and approval of his home folks. 
That he had in such full measure as to amply compensate him 
for all the vears of hard work and untiring effort. 



Address of Mr. Lazcroice, of Massachusetts. 35 

The sorrow which has befallen his family is very great, and 
I do not want to close without a word of tender and sincere 
sympathy for them. His friends here are mourning with 
them. During the ^-ears which are to come they can not fail 
to find comfort in the memory of his distinguished life, 
characterized so signally by love for the State and country he 
had served so well. He has gone from us, but he was so full 
of life I can not think of him as dead. 

There are no dead; we fall asleep, 

To waken where they never weep. 

We close our eyes to pain and sin; 

Our breath ebbs out, but life flows in. 



36 Life and Character of Thomas II. Tongue. 



Address of Mr. Ransdell, of Louisiana. 

Mr. Speaker: In the sudden death of Mr. Thoimas H. 
Tongue we reahze fully the ^^t)rds of the Scripture that ' ' in 
the midst of life we are in death," and that death comes "like 
a thief in the night." His death was perhaps the most sudden 
of any of our members in the present Congress. I saw him 
only three days before his death in the office of the Chief of 
Engineers, where I was transacting some business in connection 
with the committee of which he also was a member. Recalling 
that I had seen him there onl}' three da^'s before, apparently so 
well and hearty, I could not realize the fact when informed on 
Sunday morning that he was dead. 

I was one of those appointed to attend his funeral, to take 
that long journey across the continent from one ocean to the 
other — nearly 3,300 miles — and it was a melanchoh' satisfaction 
to accompany him on that last earthh* journey. I will not 
attempt to describe it to 3'ou. That has been done already in 
most eloquent language by three of the gentlemen who have 
preceded me. I wish to say, however, that I think it is a beau- 
tiful custom which this House observes — that of sending a 
guard of honor to escort the remains of our deceased brothers 
to their last resting place when they die here at the post of 
duty. It is certainly as little as we can do. 

Mr. Tongue was exceedingly popular in his district. It was 
a district normally Republican by three to four thousand 
majorit)-, l)nt his majority at the last election was 7.31S. 
When he first ran, in 1896, there was a fusion between the 
Poi)ulists and the Democrats, and his defeat l)y fully 1,000 



Address of Mr. Ransdell, of Louisiana. 37 

majority was in advance conceded. He won by a majority of 
65. At the next election he swelled that majority to 2,090. 
In 1900 he swelled it to 3,100, and in 1902 it reached 7,318. 
Think how eloquently these figures speak — 65 majority in 1S96 
increased to a majority of 7,318 in 1902, and that in a district 
which, as I have said, was normally Republican by not more 
than 3,500 majority. The majority to which Mr. Tongue thus 
attained speaks in thunder tones of the work and worth of the 
man. 

He was quite as popular with Democrats as with Republicans. 
I was told by a distinguished Democrat of the city of Port- 
land — an old, gray -headed man, standing by the bier of Mr. 
Tongue— that he had always supported Thomas H. Tongue; 
that party cut no figure with him when it came to voting for 
such a man. He said that Mr. Tongue was the poor man's 
friend, the man who could always be relied upon to fight the 
' cause of the poor at all times and in all places. These simple 
words coming from a venerable man, prominent as a Democrat, 
spoke to me more eloquently of his true worth and splendid 
character than a volume of commonplaces. 

There were many factional differences in Mr. Tongue's 
district and State, but with rare good judgment he managed to 
keep friendly with both sides. Yet he was a man who never 
.shirked any matter of principle, but always drove straight ahead 
for what was right. 

He had friends in both factions, and that is proved by the 
immense majorities he received in his recent elections. When 
the Senatorial fight began, which has just closed in Oregon, 
Mr. Tongue was urgently solicited by a number of his friends 
to become a candidate. They insisted that he had never taken 
part in the factional fights of his State, that he had friends on 
both sides, and the strongest chance of winning. He felt. 



-^8 Life and Charada of Thomas H. Tongue. 

however, that his candidacy would jeopardize the interests of. 
men who had been loyal to him in the past, and he declined 
positively to ha^•e anything to do with that contest. 

When the agitation respecting the Spanish war first started, 
JSIr. Tongue Ijitterly opposed the thought of war, and when 
the Maine was blown up in Habana Harbor he was extremeh" 
anxious that there should be a careful investigation before any 
declaration of war. He was a natural conservative and 
abhorred hasty action. When, however, hostilities were once 
declared, the Government had no stronger supporter than he. 
He did his utmost by counsel and advice to raise regiments in 
his own State, and though he never posed in Congress as an 
orator, yet when an attack was made, or what he deemed to be 
an attack, upon the regiments from his State and from other 
portions of the country, he raised his voice in language which 
to me is extremely eloqtient. I do not think I can say 
anything better of him than to read here and put on record 
again the language used by him on that occasion. He was 
discussing the Second Oregon and its experiences in the 
Phihppine I.slands, and in part he said: 

The quality of the men who composed the Second Oregon was indicated 
by a brief order of General Wheaton at Melinto: "Orderly, overtake those 
Oregon greyhounds on the road to Polo and order them to ]\Ielinto. Go 
mountec?, ox you will never catch them." When, after the glorious vic- 
tory at Malabon, General Wheaton was asked, "Where are your regulars?" 
he pointed to the Second Oregon, saying, "There are my regulars." A 
volume would not record the heroic deeds of those boys. At Malabon 
those brave young soldiers charged across the open rice fields, upon which 
they left many dead and wounded, in the face of a murderous fire from an 
intrenched foe and planted the Stars and Stripes upon the fortification of 
a defeated enemy. No veterans the world ever saw showed more cool, 
steady, and determined courage than the boys of the Second Oregon in 
that magnificent conflict. 

Like true heroes they rose equal to their opportunities and the occasion, 
met every emergency, responded to every demand, discharged every duty, 
laughed at every danger, and left behind them a record of heroic achieve- 
ments never excelled in any land or in any age. Not only the State of 



Address of Mr. Ransdell, of Louisiana. 39 

Oregon, not only their own country, but their race shoiild be proud of 
such men. Their record proves what humanity can and will achieve, 
what it can and will suffer, when duty calls for great suffering or great 
achievement. 

Then, as though anticipating his own death, he gave utter- 
ance to these beautiful words respecting those Oregon ' ' grej'- 
hounds" who had died on the field of battle: 

A word for the heroic dead. They have performed the noblest and sub- 
limest act it is given to humanity to achieve; they have given their lives 
for their country. Theirs were not lives nearing their close, worn out 
with dissipation, broken with toil, devoid of hope, their cup of happiness 
drained to the dregs, and nothing left worth living for. Theirs were lives 
at the beginning, unspent, ever^'thing to hope, everything to achieve, 
everything to live for. Before the prime of manhood had been reached 
their life's work had been done and well done. Their rest will be eternal, 
their fame secure. For those who returned, full of hope and full of honor, 
life holds many temptations and many dangers; the rest and happiness 
they crave may not be theirs. 

Hope may turn to disappointment; the honors they have so proudly 
won may be sullied; we hope and pray not. The fame and honor of no 
man is safe this side of the grave. But the fame of these heroic men, 
"dead on the field of honor," is secure. Their honor will be forever 
unsullied, their memory will be like sweet perfume. They have received 
and are wearing their crown, and no power on earth or in heaven will 
pluck it from their brows. 

On Fame's eternal camping ground 
Their silent tents are spread. 

And glory guards with solemn round 
The bivouac of the dead. 

Like the brave men so beattti fully eulogized, he, too, gave 

his life for his coiintry, and his fame, " dead on the field of 

honor," is secure. We all mourn his untimely end, and point 

to his useful, well-spent life with honest pride and satisfaction. 

Such men as he have made of America the greatest nation on 

earth, and as long as she continues to produce them her destiny 

is safe. 



40 Life and Character of ThoDias H. Tongue. 



Address of Mr. Burton, of Ohio. 

Mr. Speaker: This Congress has furnished an unprece- 
dented record in the number of its members who have been 
taken away. Their departure has brought death very near 
to every one of us. It is hardly a poetic exaggeration to say: 

IVIen drop so fast ere life's midstage we tread, 
Few know so many fi'iends alive as dead. 

Yet in their loss there is a priceless heritage for us. It 
teaches, in the first place, how fleeting must be a legislative 
career at best; and in that broader aspect of its influence upon 
the couptry death smoothens asperities, it destroys animosities, 
it buries forever sectional distrust. It admonishes us to think 
less of party and of State and more of the country and of 
humanity. 

No death was more sudden or unexpected than that of 
Tho:mas H. Tongue. In the evening he was conversing 
pleasantly with his son and with his daughter. On the 
morrow he was cold in death. Swiftly following constant 
messages of love and of hope to his father and mother, his 
wife and children on the far-off Pacific coast, came the tele- 
graphic message, like a cloud in the clear sky, announcing 
his death. 

His life was essentially that of a pioneer. He went to 
Oregon l^efore its admi.ssion as a State; twelve years before 
a railway had been constructed within its borders; at a time 
when this great Commonwealth, now numbering more than 
400,000 people, had less than 50,000; when Portland, now a 
prosperous and growing metropolis, was little more than a 
struggling village. 



Address of Mr. Burton, of Ohio. 41 

His early surroundings iiuirecl him to toil and adversity-. No 
royal road to success was before him, but the very obstacles 
with which he had to contend stimulated those might}' hopes 
that make men great. 

He was essentially a product of the country, and, just as rural 
surroundings furnish a clearer physical air, so they furnish a 
clearer moral atmosphere, and they exercised a very prominent 
influence upon his life work. He would be called a lawyer, but 
he was interested as well in farming and in public aiTairs. He 
was in touch with a great multitude of people and a great 
variety of interests, so that the simpler phases of life combined 
with those enterprises and interests which are regarded as 
greater and more important. He came to Washington all 
untried and unknown. It was necessary for him to learn the 
rules and to familiarize himself with the complicated methods 
in which business is transacted. But so far as regards honesty 
and patriotism he had no need of any lessons. These were 
implanted in him in the beginning, and he furnished an illus- 
tration of the fact that for a career in Congress that equipment 
which is most needed and which in the long run must tell most 
powerfully is conscience and regard for duty. His legislative 
career, though not long, nevertheless has its monuments. He 
was chairman of the Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands at 
the time' when that very important innovation was adopted by 
which the Central Government undertakes the reclamation of 
vast tracts of desert lands. His name will be inseparably linked 
with this measure, under which millions of acres will be added 
to the national domain of arable lands, which it is hoped will 
furnish additional opportunity and additional prosperity to our 
common country. 

As a member of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors his 
first solicitude was for his State and for the Pacific coast; but, 



42 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

like all others, he came to realize the importance of those 
broader responsibilities and duties which cause a man to lay 
hold upon all the interests of this great country. He recog- 
nized the importance of improved methods of internal com- 
munication, recognized how much the growth of the country 
depends upon the development of our ports and inland water- 
ways, and, while conservative and careful, he favored that 
liberal policy which made him a strong supporter of improve- 
ments of this nature. 

As regards the personal consideration and esteem in which 
he was held, the opinion of his colleagues can be best expressed 
by some resolutions adopted on the day following his death, 
which were in these words: 

We, the members of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors of the House 
of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, assembled at the 
Capitol, this 12th day of January, 1903, desire in the most earnest way to 
express our sense of loss at the death of our esteemed associate, Hon. 
Thomas H. Tongxte, of Oregon, who died at his residence in Washington 
January 11, 1903. 

We each and all further desire to bear testimony to his splendid ability, 
great earnestness, and indefatigable industry. As a member of this com- 
mittee he was untiring in his efforts and exhibited profound comprehen- 
sion of the commercial necessities of our country. We recognize him as 
one who earnestly labored for his constituency and, in a most patriotic 
way, for his country. His genial companionship endeared him to all of 
us, and in his sudden death we feel a great personal loss. The State of 
Oregon and the country at large have lost a valuable, honest, and capable 
representative. 

Resolved, That this expression of our esteem for him and of our sense 
of personal loss be spread upon the records of this committee and a copy 
thereof be presented to his family. 

We can say of him that he was our friend, faithful and ju.st 
to us; but if our personal loss is great, how nmch greater mu.st 
be the lo.ss and how nuich keener the .sorrow of the father and 
mother, each more than forescore, whose hope he was; of the 
beloved wife, who heard the sudden news of his death; of the 



Address of Mr. Burton, of Ohio. 43 

sons and daughters, to whom he gave his constant sohcitude 
and affection? Our words can not be adequate to express 
our sj-mpathy for them or to describe the magnitude of their 
bereavement. 

With this poor tribute, we must bid him farewell. We leave 
his mortal remains in the cemetery of the little village where he 
always loved to dwell. There let the low winds over mountain 
and valley die down to a requiem in his memory. In his life 
work, although he was cut off before his career had reached its 
full fruition of accomplishment, there is nevertheless an inspira- 
tion and an example which will be like a flower of perennial 
bloom to all those who knew him, because of his faithful, con- 
scientious, brave service for his State and for his country. 



44 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 



ADDRESS OF MR, COOMBS, OF CALIFORNIA, 
Mr. Speaker: Eulogy should never become fulsome, yet it 
is right to speak of those essentials which select men to play 
more than ordinary characters in the drama of life and to 
become a part of the public events of their time and country. 
If a man in public life leaves a memory which may be cherished 
by a community, he has done much to preserve the principles 
which make republics immortal. His achievements are neces- 
sarily contracted to the circumstances of his life, and while 
exceptional men may extend to a wider fame, yet it is doubtful 
if even they could not have accomplished more of good by 
confining their talents to their communities. 

The hfe and character of the late Thomas H. Tongue were 
typical of the great Western surroundings which nursed and 
energized his ambitions. He represented, in part, a State 
through which courses mighty rivers flowing on to a limitless 
sea. Its valleys are rich and beautiful, while its mountains are 
wrapped in the shrouds of the storm. These are the scenes 
which inspired the farmer boy and gave to his mind the ambi- 
tion to make his own land fulfill the lordly conditions for which 
nature had created it. This to him was the art, the duty, of 
the legislator. One man could but do his part. Diversified 
interests, dissimilar toils, make the Republic's glory. The 
country may well suffer the omissions growing out of too nuich 
loyalty to local interests. 

But while Mr. Tongue was an ardent advocate of the par- 
ticular interests of his State, upon the varied questions engaging 
public thought he showed an enhghtenment brought from the 
mine of research and study. He was studious, careful, and 



Address of Mr. Coombs, of California. 45 

painstaking. Yet his knowledge was not all confined to the 
principles he gathered from books; that greater teacher, Nature. 
had unloosed her golden clasps and from her infinite variety had 
inspired the love which 

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks. 
Sermons in stones, and good in everj^thing. 

The towering mountains about him echoed the truths of 
Sinai, and inspired the earl}- faith in wliich he lived and died a 
Christian. He sought not the loud way to fame. Diffidence 
was so much a part of his character that he shrank from the 
crowd. History had undoubtedly taught him how, in some 
olden time, men fought their way to savage renown; how song 
was once inspired by the fame of barbaric deeds, and legend 
sought only to preserve their memorials. Yet he looked upon 
a fame more enduring; not so much upon that which might 
blazon a uame, but upon that by which good deeds are conse- 
crated to immortality. He was satisfied with the applause 
which should come from the little good contributed to the 
growth of a State. 

Fidelity to particular interests promotes these purposes. In 
these essentials he fought bravely, he accomplished well. Un- 
assuming, he sought to add to the greater glory of the Republic 
by enhancing the pride, the reverence, the gratitude of one of 
its parts. He augmented that great Western development 
which will lead to the time when the burden of empire will 
change, fulfilHng the poetic prophecy that "Westward the star 
of empire takes its way." The little achievements, minute as 
they are in design, contribute to the ultimate purposes of 
national life, and the motives which impel them are as sublime 
as if they had inspired the thoughts that shake the universe. 

Mr. Tongue might truthfully be called a pioneer in the 
upbuilding of the West. In 1859, at the age of 15 years, he 



46 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

settled in the county of Washington. Oreg., the place which 
was to witness his trials and struggles and which he was to 
behold, emerging from frontier and border life into busy cities 
with quickening impulses, the changes which now inspire men 
with unbounded hope in the future destiny. His life and 
energy partook of the spirit of these surroundings. The 
imposing character of the silent woods and the rushing streams 
led to a thousand prophecies indulged by youth and ambition, 
wrapping in dreams the shapes of the future. Yet life there 
was not all a dreamland. To have received an education in 
the West at that time required arduous devotion to study 
which took time from the realities surrounding life and stole 
blissful moments from alluring scenes, too apt to break into 
the method required for mental discipline. However, life in 
the pathless woods did much to shape his better thoughts. 

Early impressions — the impressions of the boy— remain 
forever, and in his older and sublimer musings man will turn 
to the first teachings of soHtude. People flocked to the Far 
W>st in early times; it was a marvelous land where men could 
throw off restraint and where the human heart itself was the 
only guide in the wild pulsations of border life. Out of this 
grew a new order which history had not foretold, a society 
which, without the restraint of law, bound license within the 
narrow confines of right and conscience and made one of the 
remarkable epochs of civilization— a life whose characters are 
immortalized by the verse of Bret Harte, in whose finer touches 
the truth may be found how within the rugged exterior the 
heart will move on, creating for itself the law of self-restraint. 
Mr. Tongue was chairman of the Committee on Irrigation of 
Arid Lands in the Fifty-seventh Congress. This connnittee 
reported a bill providing for a utilization of waste waters upon 
arid and semiarid lands by the expenditure of revenues from 



^ 



Addtess of Mr. Coombs, of California. 47 

the sale of the pubhc domain. This measure is calculated to 
evolve from nature economic forces sufficient to supph* unborn 
millions with toil and sustenance. With the other members of 
this committee, Mr. Tongue worked patiently upon this 
measure until it was perfected, though surrounded at times by 
a hostility that thought it saw special favors in a public 
measure of great magnitude. 

While the West has a history of romance, history has not yet 
written her greatest achievements. It has been by the per- 
sistent early workers that it has been known. If a Repre- 
sentative becomes more insistent in the West than seems 
consistent wnth ordinary duty, it is for the reason that it must 
needs be so. Individual efforts must achieve what in other 
places it is immemorial custom to do. It is hard to give up the 
old for the new, and men around whom cluster the traditions 
of centuries look with alarm upon the things which take shape 
from the new fancies flitting from woods but half explored. 
These throw an embarrassment around a Western member. 
Yet, withal, Mr. Tongue was a successful legislator, and began 
improvements in his district with which his name will be 
associated. 

Physically he was not strong, yet in him hope rose 
triumphant above life's frailties, and with hope sprang glorious 
cities and might}^ commerce to crown the W^est in his own day 
and time. All of the creations of the young mind were long 
ago fulfilled and the magic visions which peopled the sunlit 
valleys became real. He loved the West, and read in her sun- 
set prophecies the destinies of peoples yet to be. He was part 
of the events of a great time, and was a member of a Congress 
which took upon itself the solemn obligations of a war, and 
with war the untold obligations to a more extended humanit3^ 

The doubts with which it was brought have passed away; 



^ 



48 Lz'/'e and Character of Thomas H. Tongtie. 

the hopes have found fruition. In all of these great affairs he 
had the courage which conquers and the faith which made that 
conquest righteous. His life is rounded with a sleep, and he 
rests amid the glorious monuments of his far Western home. 
He hears no more the faint echoes of the world's applause, the 
might}- debate, the big wars; his country's fame can not arouse 
him. His integrity to Heaven is all he dares now call his own. 
Secure in that, he can well leave the lordly projects of life to 
disturb and fret other men, who in their time may point to 
their achievements and may be trace a beginning to those early 
conditions which his life and character helped to form. 



Address oj Mr. Reeves, of Illinois. 



49 



Address of Mr, Reeves, of Illinois, 

Mr. Speaker: It was my fortune to be associated with 
Tho:mas H. Tongue as a member of the Committee on Rivers 
and Harbors of the Hou.se of Representatives, and thereby was 
afforded the opportunity to become well acquainted with him. 
Anyone brought thus in contact with him would not fail to 
recognize in him great force and worth. He had the courage 
of his convictions at all times. He was profoundly imbued 
with the potentialities of the State which commissioned him to 
represent it in part in this Chamber. He recognized Oregon as 
a splendid State in this Union of States, and his mental gra.sp 
encompassed her future greatness when her population \vould 
be multiplied and her internal improvements had developed her 
into a great commercial center. 

Charged in part with the guidance of any and all Congres- 
sional action which specially pertained to Oregon, he always 
advised such legislation as would meet the demands of her 
future necessities. In this work his efforts were unceasino- 
The member of Congress who faithfully represents at once the 
interests of his district and of his State, who complies with all 
of the demands made upon him by his people, and who tempers 
these interests and these demands with the greater ones of his 
common country, has a labor before him which will challenge 
his ability, his strength, and his endurance. 

Mr. Tongue labored unceasingly to meet these requirements, 
and he came as nearly reaching their full measure of accom- 
plishment as any of us. Thus persevering, thus faithful to the 
trust that had been reposed in him, thus ever energetic in the 
H. Doc. 463 4 



50 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

duties before him, thus striving for that which is best for his 
State and for the nation, he met every responsibihty with care, 
confidence, and abihty. He beat back the evidences of ill 
health and failing strength until, when the summons came, it 
was with that suddenness that brought a shock to all who 
knew him. But, after all, was not that the merciful way? 
Permitted to enjoy to the last the full measure of his mental 
strength; useful to the last to his family, his State, and his 
nation; happy in the consciousness that he was contributing to 
the well-being of the present and future generations; loved by 
a large circle of close friends, and admired by a great con- 
stituency; living in the path of rectitude, may he not have 
said, "I have fought a good fight, and it is finished?" 

Death is seldom, if ever, a welcome messenger. It draws 
the veil that shuts out the vision of the future. The journey 
of life is from birth to death. To some the journey is full 
of trouble, to others it is peaceful ; to some it is full of bitter- 
ness, and to others it is replete with happiness. But to all 
alike, whether we pass this way in peace and joy or in sad- 
ness and sufferings there is a sense of uncertainty as to the 
. future ; but somehow, some way, the Divine plan is such that 
each of us is inspired with a hope of immortality, that death 
is not the end of all, but that there is a future better than 
the present. By faith we believe in a future state of happi- 
ness ; and faith is not an idle whim. Faith is the strongest 
force that controls our actions here. We all do more things 
based upon faith than upon any other force. 

This great force which we call faith inspires within us a 
confidence that this intellectual being which we call the soui 
shall live on after the dissolution of the body. I believe that 
it is ea.sier for the logical and analytical mind to believe in a 
future state tnan to disbelieve in it, and thus believing, if we 



Address of Mr. Reeves, of Illinois 51 

shall emulate the virtues of our departed friend, may we uot 

say with Bryant — 

So live that when thy summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan which moves 
To that nij'sterious reahu where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 



Life and Oiaradcr of Thomas H. Tongue. 



ADDRESS OF MR. DOVENER, OF WEST VIRGINIA. 

Mr. Speaker: Again we have met in thi.s Hall in sorrowful 
remembrance of our friends and colleagues who have been 
parted from us by the stern mandate of death. The large num- 
ber of such bereavements experienced b}^ this House can not 
but furnish us all a solemn and impressive reminder of the 
brevity of life and the uncertainty of its tenure; and the vacant 
chairs which we see about us on every hand seem to warn us, 
' ' Be ye also read}-. 

As one who had grown to know and thoroughly appreciate 
the value of his friendship and society, I desire on this occasion 
to bear witness to the worth of our departed fellow-member, 
Thomas H. Tongue, and to express my deep regret for his 
untimely death. Mr. Tongue was still in the prime of life, 
and apparently had only just begun a long career of public use- 
fulness. This was his third term in Congress, and his experi- 
ence gained in the Fifty-fifth had enabled him to become in the 
Fifty-sixth and the present Congress a legislator of force and 
influence, a man of distinction and power. His death was a 
loss to family and friends, a loss to the interests of national 
legislation, a loss to the General Government and the nation, a 
loss to the vState of Oregon, that he so faithfully and abu- 
ser ved. 

Mr. Tongue was comparatively young in the public service. 
Two whole decades of his life were devoted to the assiduous 
study and practice of the law, in which profession he gained 
and merited a high reputation, and it was not until he was 
about 45 years of age that his fellow-citizens singled him out 
for jiolitical honors and ]MX-vaile(l upon him to enter public life. 



Address of Mr. Dovencr, of West Virginia. 53 

He was then sent to the Oregon State senate, where, though a 
new member, he was soon advanced to the chairmanship of the 
j udiciary committee. His sound j udgment and executive abihty 
were further recognized by the leaders of his party in the State 
of Oregon by electing him to the chairmanship of various 
Republican State conventions, committees, and other organiza- 
tions, and finally his district chose him to represent its interests 
here. 

How well he justified the confidence of his constituency, 
how well he executed the commissions intrusted to his care, 
it is needless for me to describe in detail. What was thought 
about his Congressional record at home is best illustrated by 
the fact that he was twice reelected by increased majorities. 
We who have been his associates know that Mr. Tongue was 
one of the most faithful, one of the most efficient, untiring, 
and devoted representatives of the people among our number. 
He was constantly engaged in the prosecution of some matter 
of importance to his con.stituents or to the public in general. 
On many matters of the first importance arising in this 
Chamber for decision his voice and opinion had weight and 
influence. 

In committee work, as I can testify, having served with him 
for three years on one of the hardest-worked committees of the 
House, Mr. Tongue was faithful, efficient, and untiring. All 
the members of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, I feel 
sure, share my admiration for Mr. Tongue's ability and will- 
ingness as a worker and for his genial and kindly qualities as 
an associate. In his personal relations courteous and alTable 
he was kind and helpful to all. 

We can not hope to retain the presence of those we love, we 
can not hope to retain the services of the most u.seful members 
of society, indefinitely. "Threescore j-ears and ten" is the 



54 J^iJ^ <^'fid CJiaradcr of Thomas H. Tongtie. 

allotted span of life. But it must excite unusual sorrow and 
regret when a valuable and honorable life, like that of Mr. 
Tongue's, is cut short by premature death. It is not meet or 
proper that we should complain or criticise, but we can not but 
lament such dispensations of Providence. We trust that all 
is now well with our departed friend and colleague, that as 
he has often merited and received the approbation of his 
associates here, so now may he ha\-e heard that last and most 
important welcome, "Well done, good and faithful ser\-ant." 



Address of Mr. Sparkman, of Florida. 55 



ADDRESS OF Mr. SPARKMAN, OF FLORIDA. 

Mr. Speaker: Human life has been likened to a bridge 
spanning a wide and dangerous stream. The multitudes enter 
and crowd each other upon the nearer approach of the way, 
but soon the ranks begin to thin. Through openings here and _ 
there the reckless and the careful alike fall in their onward 
tread; some near the entrance, others far out from shore, until 
all have sunk into the rushing, whirling waters below. Still 
others have compared human life to a might}- river, ever glid- 
ing onward, bearing upon its bosom the frail human barks that 
have been launched from its shores to a vast unknown sea, but 
upon whose waters somewhere humanity is to find the ultimate 
home of the soul. A poet has beautifully said: 

Our lives are rivers, gliding free 
To that unfathomed, boundless sea, 

The silent grave! 
Thither all earthly pomp and boast 
Roll, to be swallowed up and lost 

In one dark wave. 

How true the comparison is attested by the .scenes and inci- 
dents of everyday life. The pallid cheek of death, the funeral 
cortege, the habiliments of mourning, the tolling of the bell, 
the newly made grave — all speak of dissolution and proclaim 
the disappearance of another and another beneath the waters 
that sweep on into the great sea of eternity. No age or con- 
dition in life is exempt from the inexorable decree that dooms 
man to death and his body to the grave. The strong, the 
weak, the old, and the young are ever being garnered by that 
"reaper whose name is Death." 

Mr. Speaker, how often have we been reminded of this dur- 
ing the few vears even that I have been a member of this body ! 



56 Life and Character of T/io??ias H. Tongue. 

How often have we seen the desk of some friend and colleague 
draped in mourning! How frequently have we gathered on 
this floor during the past eight ^-ears to pay sad but loving 
tribute to the memory of some friend whose life had ended 
midst his labors here ! How often have we seen the procession 
leave this Capitol and wending its way to a distant State, 
maybe in the Xorth, perhaps beyond the plains to the sunset 
side of our land, or maybe in the far South, where, amidst 
familj' and friends, some one of our members who have fallen 
by the waj'side has been gently laid to rest. 

How different, too, has the summons come in individual 
ca.ses. To some the hour of departure has been struck after 
days of disease and suffering, to others the messenger has come 
when the allotted span of earthly existence had been traversed 
and a life work had been accomplished, while upon others the 
blow has fallen suddenly and without warning, when the bodv 
was apparently free from disease and mental and physical vigor 
seemingly gave promi.se of years of life and usefulness. 

These last were the circum.stances under which he to whose 
memory we pa}* tribute to-day was called hence. On Sunday, 
January 11 last, Thomas H. Toxguk, of Oregon, died sud- 
denl}^ at his residence in this city. Up to the very moment 
which proved fatal there were no outward signs of the fatal 
blow. Almost in an instant he had pas.sed from this life to 
another. He was apparently in the very l)est of health only 
a day or two l)efore, when I met him for the last time on this 
floor, attending to his official duties, in the performance of 
which he .seemed ever to be .so earnest and capable. Little did 
I then drean; that within the short space of a few hours he 
would have cro.ssed the mystic river that divides this from the 
unknown land which lies on the farther shore. 

It was mv good fortune to have known Mr. ToxcuK from a 



Address of Mr. Sparkiiiau, of Florida. 57 

date earh' in the Fifty-fifth Congress to the time of his death, 
and I can truthfully sa}- that it has never been my fortune to 
meet one more earnest in the discharge of his duty, both to his 
immediate constituency and the country at large. He had 
many admirable traits, but that which to my mind distin- 
guished him most as a legislator, and which no doubt con- 
tributed most to his success in other departments of life, making 
him, as he was, a man amongst men, was his intense earnest- 
ness and devotion to duty. 

Whatever was worth doing was to him worth well doing, 
and if he had possessed nothing more to distinguish him here 
or elsewhere, if his fame and usefulness had no other foturda- 
tion upon which to rest, the possession of this virtue alone 
would have sufficed to give him a high standing among his 
fellow-men. And, after all, what one trait can more ennoble 
its possessor than devotion to dtit}', no matter what or where 
the field of human endeavor? It may lie in the humbler walks 
of life, in mercantile pursuits, or in the so-called learned pro- 
fessions, or 3'et in the legislative halls of the State or nation, 
where laws are made and policies outlined for the weal and 
happiness of the people; but whatever the vocation or pursuit, 
if the summit of hope is to be reached it must be through 
devotion to dwty — in the doing well what one's hands find to 
do. This was the leading trait in the life and character of 
Thomas H. Tongue as I saw and understood him here. 

But it was in the committee room, perhaps, where his best 
work was done as a national legislator. It was my good for- 
tune to be with him on the Rivers and Harbors Committee, a 
committee whose labors touch more intimately and affect more 
directly the commercial growth and development of this coun- 
try than all others. There projects are devised and appropria- 
tions recommended for the improvement of those rivers and 



58 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongzie. 

harbors over which and through which our vast and growing 
commerce is carried by water, whether interstate or inward or 
outward bound. In deahng, as members of that committee 
have to deal, with the necessities of all sections of the country- 
Mr. Tongue showed a breadth of view and a profound com- 
prehension of the commercial needs of the country that quali- 
fied him in every way for this great work. True, he never 
lost sight of his own State and people, but he labored likewise 
for the entire country, forgetting and ignoring State and dis- 
trict lines in his service in the committee room and on the floor 
of the House. 

He and I differed in our political views, he belonging to one 
and I to the other of the two great parties of the country; but 
if I had waited to find out from social intercourse with him or 
from work in committee that this difference existed I should 
have ever remained in ignorance, perhaps, of his political opin- 
ions and sentiments, for he was not w'hat is usually called a 
bitter partisan. 

But he has gone from among us, Mr. Speaker, and others 
from time to time as the years go by will take the place occu- 
pied b3^ him here, but the great State of Oregon will not find 
another more devoted to her interests or the country at large, 
one more earnest in his labors for her upbuilding than was he 
upon whose grave we lay these tributes of love and esteem 
to-day. 

That was a fitting eulogy presented by the committee of 
which he had been so conspicuous a member on the morning 
following his untimely death. The members of that commit- 
tee unanimously pas.sed a. resolution which, after expressing 
in the most earnest manner their .sense of loss at the death 
of Mr. Tongue, bore testimony to his great ability in this 
lan<rua":e: 



Address of Mr. Sparknmn, of Florida. 59 

As a member of this committee he was untiring in his eflforts, and 
exhibited profound comprehension of the commercial necessities of our 
countr}'. We recognize him as one who earnestly labored for his con- 
stituency and in a most patriotic way for his country. His genial com- 
panionship endeared him to all of us, and in his sudden death we feel 
a great personal loss. The vState of Oregon and the country at large 
have lost a valuable, honest, and capable Representative. 

I have said, Mr. Speaker, that he i.s gone, but this is only 
true in a phy.sical sense, for in the example his life has set 
and in the achievement he has made he is with us yet. The 
orb which cast its radiance about us has indeed gone down, 
but its luster still lingers to light the pathway of duty and 
endeavor. 

The deeds men do live after them, and although our friend 

did not reach the end of life's allotted span and was cut down 

onl}' a little be^-ond the point where the shadows turn toward 

the east, yet in achievement he had lived long and well. 

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 

Measured by this, the only true standard, his life was 
complete and well-rounded, his career crowned with success. 



6o Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 



Address of Mr. Cushman, of Washington, 

Mr. Speaker: The second session of the Fifty-seventh Con- 
gress will be long remembered hy us as one of unusual fatality 
to its members. 

The flag upon our Capitol floats onl}^ at half-mast when the 
Grim Reaper has laid his hand upon our fold. In the early 
days of my life as a member of this body it was a rare sight to 
to see the flag at half-mast. But this winter as I have walked 
to and fro in my daily work I have seen the flag, like a nuite 
emblem of the nation's mourning, outlined against the sky as if 
some unseen and almighty hand had nailed it to the half-mast. 

It will cause us all to pause and think, we who are burning 
the oil out of life's lamp at such a tremendous rate, of the 
har\est we are reaping. 

Mr. Speaker, on this sad occasion, when his colleagues are 
paying worthy tribute to the memory of our deceased brother, 
it was not my original intention to speak. 

There is. however, a peculiar propriety in my adding a few 
words to-day to the volume of testimony that attests the esteem 
in which he was held by his associates in this body. 

He and I both came to this Chamber from the mighty North- 
west, from that region that was originally the Territory of 
Oregon. 

Of that region and its va.st re.sources and its possibilities no 
one had a clearer conception than the deceased. His beloved 
State of Oregon was the center of his universe. Not that I 
mean to say that he had not a broad and clear vision, for we 
all know to the contrary. But his credentials to this body 
charged him especially with the interest of that region and the 
welfare of that people. To him it was alike a sacred trust and 



Addirss of Mr. CusIiduvi. of ]\'(is/i/ii<^/o)i . , 6i 

a duly of love; and to its accoin])!islinRiit he <k'\'otc-d liiiiisc-lt" 
with sin;4lc'ness of i)ur])()Sf and with unna<;>;in*;" enL'r*;\-. 

The members ol" this Ixxly who represent Ivastern constituen- 
cies, who reside in oUl and settled t-onnnnnities whose lei;islati\-e 
wants are lew, have little or no conception of the labors of the 
man who represents a coniparati\'el\- new re.^ion, fdled with 
might>' and diverse interests, with nian\- x'exed and unsettled 
prol)lems, and with a restless, enert;etic, ])atriotic i)eople. Their 
wants are as niunberless as the sands of the seashore. 

vSuch a region and such a conslitucnc>' ni\- friend re])rescnted 
in his lifetime, and we can all of us b(.'ar testinion>- to the 
willing way in which he bent his tired shoulders to that load. 
The coat of arms of his beloved vState he seemed to have embla- 
zoned on his heart. Whate\-er was for her best interests, what- 
ever was for the greater welfare of his Conunonwealth or the 
glory of her citizens, that he felt his self-a])pointed task to do. 

I do not hesitate to sa>' that in iun' opinion it was in a large 
measvu'e his arduous labors that shortened his life. 

Perhaps it is better tluis. In this modern and euHghtcned 
age the lives of men, in the greater sense, are not spanned b\- 
years, but are measured by events. The sum total of a human 
life is properly measured by the good deeds accomplished and 
not by mere l(jnge\'ity. 

Measured by this standard our friend will be long remembered 
by his associates on this floor. 

But I dare say, sir. that the most enduring memory of him 
will not be with us, but will linger in the hearts of his people 
at home. In the bustle and whirl of our ])us>' lives the figiu'es 
come and go in our theater of action like the players on the 
stage. But away out yonder l)y his home, among the ])eo])le he 
honored and who honored him, he will be remend)ered thiough 
the coimtless years to come b>- the legions of tho.se whose 
burdens he helped to bear. 



Proceedings in the Senate, 

January 12, 1903. 
■ message from the house. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. 
W. J. Browning, its Chief Clerk, communicated to the Senate 
the intelHgence of the death of Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, 
late a Representative from the State of Oregon, and trans- 
mitted resolutions of the House thereon. 

The message also announced that the Speaker of the House 
had appointed Mr. Moody, of Oregon; Mr. Payne, of New 
York; Mr. Burton, of Ohio; Mr. Bishop, of Michigan; Mr. 
Davidson, of Wisconsin; Mr. McLachlan, of California; Mr. 
Ransdell, of Loitisiana; Mr. Bellamy, of North Carolina; 
Mr. Needham, of California; Mr. Sutherland, of Utah, and 
Mr. Bates, of Pennsylvania, members of the committee on the 
part of the House to take order for superintending the funeral 
of the deceased Representative. 

DEATH OF REPRESENTATIVE TONGUE. 

Mr. Mitchell. Mr. President, I ask that the resolutions 
from the House of Representatives in relation to the death 
of my late colleague in that body may be laid before the 
Senate. 

The President pro tempore. The Chair lays before the 

Senate resolutions from the House of Representatives; which 

will be read. 

63 



64 Lif(^ <^Jid Cliaradcr of Thomas H. Tongue. 

The Secretary read as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, Januarv j2, igoj. 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the sudden 
death in this city of Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, a Representative in this 
House from the First district of Oregon. 

Resolved, That the House do now adjourn out of respect to the memory 
of the deceased member. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate a cop}- of the.se 
resolutions to the Senate. 

The Speaker announced the appointment of Mr. Moody, of Oregon; Mr. 
Payne, of New York; Mr. Burton, of Ohio; Mr. Bishop, of Michigan; I\Ir. 
Davidson, of Wisconsin; Mr. McLachlan, of California; Mr. Ransdell, of 
Louisiana; Mr. Bellamy, of North Carolina; Mr. Needham, of California; 
Mr. Sutherland, of Utah, and Mr. Bates, of Pennsylvania, members of the 
committee on the part of the House. 

Mr. MiTCHELi.. Mr. President, I present the resolutions 
which I .send to the desk, and I ask unanimous consent for 
their immediate consideration. 

The President pro tempore. The resolutions submitted l)y 
the Senator from Oregon will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep .sensibility the annoi;nce- 
ment of the death of Tho:m.\s H. Tongue, late a Representative from the 
First district of the State of Oregon. 

Resolved, That a committee of five Senators be appointed by the Presi- 
dent pro tempore to join a committee appointed on the part of the House 
of Representatives to take order for superintending the funeral of the 
decea.sed. 

Resolved, That the Senate comnninicate these resolutions to the House 
of Representatives. 

Resolved, As a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, 
that the Senate do now adjourn. 

The resolutions were considered by unanimous consent and 
unanimously agreed to. 

The President pro tempore appointed as the committee on 
the part of the Senate, provided for in the second resolution, 
Messrs. Mitchell, Perkins, Dolliver, Titrner, and Dul^ois; and, 
in accordance with the last resolution, the- Senate (at 5 o'clock 



Preceedings in the Senate. 65 

and 8 minutes p. m. ) adjourned until to-morrow, Tuesdaj^, 
January 13, 1903, at 12 o'clock meridian. 

February 23, 1903. 

message from the house. 

The message further communicated to the Senate resolutions 
passed by the House commemorative of the life and services 
of Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, late a Representative from the 
State of Oregon. 

February 25, 1903. 
memorial addresses ox the late representati\^ 

TONGUE. 

Mr. Mitchell. I desire to give notice that on Saturday, 
the 28th instant, I shall ask the Senate to suspend bu.siness 
at some convenient hour for the consideration of the House 
resolutions on the death of my late colleague in that body, 
Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, in order that fitting tributes may 
be paid to his memory. 
H. Doc. 463 5 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES, 

March i, 1903. 
Mr. Mitchell. Mr. President, I ask that the resolutions of 
the House in memory of the late Representative Tongue, of 
Oregon, be now laid before the Senate. 

The President pro tempore. The Chair lays before the 
Senate resolutions from the House of Representatives; which 
will be read. 

The Secretarj' read the resolutions, as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, 

February 22, igoj. 
Resolved, That in pursuance of the special order heretofore adopted, 
the House proceed to pay tribute to the memory of Hon. Thom.\s H. 
Tongue, late a member of the House of Representatives from the State 
of Oregon. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 
Resolved, That the Clerk be, and he is hereby, instructed to send a copy 
of these resolutions to the family of the deceased. 

Mr. Mitchell. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which 
I .send to the desk, and ask for their present consideration. 

The PrEvSidenT pro tempore. The resohitions will be read 
by the Secretary. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow the an- 
nouncement of the death of Hon. Thom.\s H. Tongue, late a Represent- 
ative from the State of Oregon. 

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended, in order 
that fitting tribute may be paid to his memory. 

Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect the Senate, at the con- 
clusion of these ceremonies, do adjourn. 

67 



6S Life and Character of Thomas II. Tongue. 



Address of Mr, Mitchell, of Oregon. 

Mr. President: The practice which has long oljtained iu 
the Congress of tendering pubhc tribute to the memory of 
departed members is both appropriate and beautifuL These 
ceremonials are, however, liable to be, and sometimes are, 
marred and shorn of their appropriateness and worth by exag- 
gerated encomium. Our zeal in desiring to speak well of a 
friend is liable to tempt us to indulge in unwarranted phrase in 
his praise. Not tmmindful of this, it is my purpose in the few 
words I am about to sa>' to -adhere strictly to the truth as I 
understand it and avoid anything like fulsome eulogy. A 
true, unvarnished statement of the characteristics, of the life 
work, ptiblic and private, of Tho:\ias H. Tongue is the highest 
meed that can be tendered his memory, and all that could be 
desired by the loved ones he left behind or by his most ardent 
and devoted friend. 

Thom.vs H. Tongue, late Representative in Congress from 
the First district of the State of Oregon, was born in England, 
June 23, 1844, and passed suddenly into the other life at his 
Washington residence on Sunday, the nth day of January, 
1903, at I o'clock p. m., in the presence of his daughter and 
other menibers of his family. 

He came with his parents to this country and located in 
Washington County, Oreg., November 23, 1S59, nine months 
after the admission of Oregon as a State, that being his home 
until the date of his death. He was of poor, but highly 
respected parentage, and ]>ersonally worked on a farm evenings 



Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Oregon. 69 

and mornings to secure means to carr}- him through school 
and university. 

As indicating his disposition and habits at this period of his 
life, I beg to quote the following, from an interview given at 
the time of his death by Hon. Benton Killin, of Portland, Oreg. , 
a leading lawyer of the State, and a classmate in the university 
with Mr. Tongue. Mr. Killin said: 

The news of Mr. Tongue's death was a great shock to me. \\'heii I 
was mustered out of the Army at the close of the war, I went to the Pacific 
University to get some training, and found Mr. Tongue there ahead of 
me. We were in the same class together, and have been close together 
ever since. At that time he was no dawdler. He knew what he wanted 
and how he was going to accomplish it. Evenings, mornings, and vSatur- 
days he grubbed on oak grubs for Deacon Naylor, and earned his wav 
through college in that way, and all through life he knew how to clean 
away the weeds, moss, and earth and get down to the taproot of thino-s. 
He was a hard man to try a case against, full of resources — "though 
beaten, could argue still."" 

He graduated from the Pacific University, at Forest Grove, 
Oreg., in June, 1868; was admitted to the bar at Salem in 1870, 
and became at once an active and successful practitioner in his 
profession at Hillsboro, Washington County, Oreg. He con- 
tinued in the active practice of his profession, .so far as per- 
mitted, consistent with the performance of official duties, 
throughout his life. He also engaged largely in farming and 
the raising of live .stock. He was a* great lover of a fine horse 
and never happier than when the conversation turned to the 
horse. He bred some of the finest live .stock, both horses and 
cattle, on the Pacific coast. 

His first active participation in politics was at the June elec- 
tion in Oregon in 188S, at which time he was elected a member 
of the State .senate for a term of four years. During this serv- 
ice he served as chairman of the judiciary ccmmiittee He at 
once came to the front as an industrious member and a ready, 



yo Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

convincing debater. In 1890 he was made chairman of the 
State Republican convention. From 1892 to 1894 he .served as 
president of the State organization of Republican clubs; was a 
delegate to the Republican national convention at Minneapolis 
in 1892, and was the Oregon vice-president of that convention. 

Again in 1894 he was made permanent chairman of the State 
Republican convention, and was a member of the State central 
committee for ten years, from 1886 to 1896, and chairman of 
the Republican Congressional committee of his district from the 
time of its organization until his nomination as a member of the 
Fifty-fifth Congress. He was elected to the Fifty-fifth, Fiftj^- 
sixth, and Fifty-seventh Congresses, and was also in June last 
reelected to the Fift>-eighth Congress. As evidencing the 
great satisfaction of his constituents ^^•ith which he ,ser\-ed his 
district, his plurality was increased at each election as follows: 
At his first election his plurality was 63; at the second, 2,090; 
at the third, 3,100; and at the fourth, 7,318. 

Although a native of iCngland, every fiber of his composition 
was American; although, in common with those who entertain 
that laudable sentiment held by every true man, he cherished 
with becoming reverence the land of his nativity, yet in all that 
pertains to the upbuilding and perpetuity of republican in.stitu- 
tions, the development and promotion of political principles and 
republican government, he was es.sentialh- and uncompromis- 
ingly an American, and in his whole public career the fact of 
the accident of foreign birth was lost sight of in his luiifin'm 
and able advocac}' of and devotion to the great fundamental 
principles of the Government of the land of his adoption. 

It must, without indulging in fulsome encomium, be .said that 
Tiio.MA.s H. ToxGi'K was an a1)lL' man. The wel) and woof of 
his mental make-up were of strong and inflexible texture. His 
natural attainments were of a character far al)o\-e the a\-erage, 



Address of Mr. MitchdL of Oregon. 71 

even of our public men. He was, moreover, a man of culture. 
He was a university graduate, a close student of the world's 
literature and of the political institutions of this and other 
countries. He came, therefore, to the performance of his public 
duties more than ordinarily thoroughly equipped for their ener- 
getic and faithful performance. i\lthough more scholarly in 
attainments than many others who are more demonstrative in 
their public display of these qualities, he was modest, unas- 
suming, and entirely free from anything of a pedantic nature. 
While it could not properly be .said of him that he was brilliant 
as an orator, it can be truly said he was able and convincing in 
debate and pleasing and attractive as a public speaker. 

As a repre.sentative of the people he was untiring in his efforts 
to accomplish for them every possible good. He was remark- 
ably successful in guarding, protecting, and promoting their 
interests. He was, from his first entrance into the arena of 
politics, an uncompromising Republican and an able advocate 
of the principles and policies of the Republican party. 

As a lawN-er Thomas H. Tongue stood in the front rank of 
his profession in his adopted State. x\s a successful advocate 
before both court and jury he had but few equals and no 
superior. He was held in the highest esteem by both bench 
and bar. In his death the bar of the State of Oregon loses one 
of its most distinguished and honored members. 

In an interview at the time of his death Chief Justice F. A. 

Moore, of the supreme court of the State of Oregon, said: 

M)^ acquaintance with Mr. Tongue began twenty-five years ago when 
we met as attorneys, and that acquaintance ripened when we served in 
the legislature together. His death is a great shock to me. As an attor- 
ney he had few equals; as a debater he had no superior. It will be very 
difficult to find anyone who can fill his place. 

Bearing upon the question as to the estimate of his ability 

and attainments entertained by leading men of his State, and 



72 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

the great esteem in which he was universall}' held, I beg to 
submit the following quotations from a few of the many inter- 
views given out at the time of his death: 

Hon. T. T. Geer, then governor of the State, in an inter- 
view, said: 

Few things could have happened that could have caused more profound 
regret in every household in Oregon than the death of Representative 
Tongue. Its unexpectedness has but added to the shock. I regarded 
Mr. Tongue as one of the ablest men in the State, and certainly he had 
few s^iperiors as an entertaining and attractive public speaker. In point 
of ability he easily ranked above 75 per cent of the members of Congress, 
and his influence there was equal to his ability. His death is a distinctive 
loss to the State. 

Hon. George G. Brownell, president of the Oregon State 
senate, said: 

I am exceedingh^ grieved to learn of the sudden death of Hon. Thomas 
H. Tongue, and view it as a personal loss on account of ni}- personal 
friendship for the man. Mr. Tongue was a man of decided ability, and 
most earnest, untiring, and successful in his efforts for the State he so 
ably represented. He was a very strong man and a rising n:an. His 
position in Congress was safe for many years had he lived. His late 
speech on the irrigation question undoubtedly increased his reputation 
and showed that he was a man of much ability and great force. 

Hon. Iv. T. Harris, speaker of the house of repre.sentatives 

of Oregon, said: 

Mr. Tongue's sudden death came as a .shock to his wide circle of 
immediate friends. By untiring industry and native ability Mr. Tongue 
acquired a prominent standing and great influence as a member of the 
National Hou.se of Representatives. His public career has been a credit 
to himself and an honor to the State. His death is deplored. 

Senator R. A. Booth said: 

His energy, ability, and worth were recognized by Congress, and he 
was an important factor in its decisions. Among Oregon's Representatives 
he has never been excelled. The knowledge of his worth has widened 
with the years of his .service. The loss is irreparable. 

Representative Frank Davey said: 

I knew :i\Ir. Tongue well and intimately in all relations of life. He 
was a good man and citizen. He was the ablest debater in Oregon. 



Address of I\Ir. Jntc/iell, of Oregon. 73 

He was an able and valuable Congressman from the start, and he had 
now reached a position of influence and respect in Congress which makes 
his death an irreparable loss. 

Representative B. L. Eddy said: 

Oregon mourns the death of one of her greatest citizens and statesmen. 
The success of his career was due to his persevering efforts in everything 
he undertook and to his high standard of morality. He died in the 
service of his State. 

Senator B. F. Mulkey said: 

Thomas H. Tongue taught the young men of this State that energy 
and a good degree of talent must triumph over obstacles. As a Congress- 
man he was thorough, keen, and effective in conmiittee and in debate, and 
was a tower of strength for Oregon at Washington, and his loss from the 
Rivers and Harbors Committee at this time is an irreparable less to the 
State. 

Hon. C. W. Fulton, United States Senator-elect, said: 
I consider Mr. Tongue's death one of the greatest losses this State has 
ever sustamed. No abler man ever represented Oregon, nor, indeed in my 
judgment, the Pacific coast. His death was particularlv unfortunate 
because of the fact that he had secured a very strong position in the 
House of Representatives not only upon important committees, but in the 
way of influence, because of his recognized ability. As for myself, I feel 
in his death a personal loss, for he was my friend for many years, a'friend 
whom I ever found earnest, sincere, and manly, and T profoundly rec^ret 
his untimely death, both from a personal standpoint and the public 
welfare. 

The Oregon State senate, of which years ago Mr. Tongue 
was an honored member, on February 20 of this year, just 
prior to its final adjournment, unanimou.sly adopted and placed 
upon its record the following resolutions: 

Whereas Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, Representative from the First 
district of Oregon in the Congress of the United States, died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, January 11, 1903: Therefore, be it 

Resolved by the senate of the State of Oregon— 

First. That in his death the nation has lost a patriot whose voice was 
uplifted in behalf of the common people; the State an advocate who was 
ever vigilant in guarding its welfare and in advocating its interest; his 
friends a companion whose wise counsel and hearty cheer stimulated vig- 
orous action and encouraged manly effort; his family a loving husband 



74 ^?/t' ^^^^ Charade)- of Thomas H. Tongue. 

and a kind father, whose upright life affords a model for their guidance, 
and whose interest in their welfare was measured only by his ability. 

Second. He possessed strong reasoning power, a sound judgment, a 
capacious and retentive memory, a vigorous and comprehensive under- 
standing, which entitled him to a high place in the counsels of his fellow- 
men. He was a prodigious brain-worker, indefatigable in energy and 
tireless in all his efforts, by which he mastered the details of every subject 
which engaged his attention. F^rom the time of his admission to the bar 
he took high rank as a lawyer. In this senate he was one of the leaders, 
and in the Congress his influence was wideh' felt. In ever}- station he 
occupied he was one of the leaders and always took high rank. His 
sudden death has caused widespread mourning among his friends, who 
are legion, and to his family irreparable loss. 

Third. We tender to his bereaved wife and children our sincere sym- 
pathy. 

Fourth. That a copy of this resolution be spread on the journal of the 
senate and a copy l)e transmitted to his widow by the chief clerk of the 
senate. 

The high esteem in Avhich Representative ToxGUE was held 
by the people of Oregon, irrespective of part}-, and the great 
sorrow with which his sudden departure overwhelmed them, 
was made plainly manifest at his fttneral. The people of the 
State from all sections came en masse, by numerotis special 
trains and other modes of conveyance, to the place of sepul- 
ture. The legislature of the State, the State officials, the 
county officials of nearly every county in the State, were in 
attendance. Xumerous benevolent .societies, a number of 
which he was an honored meml)er, were present. Being a 
Ma.son of high degree, he was buried with Masonic honors. 
Business throughotit the State was stispended, and luiivensal 
sorrow saddened the hearts of all the people. No such trib- 
tite was ever before tendered the memory of any citizen of 
Oregon. 

At the .session of the Oregon legislature of 1895 r^Ir. ToxGUE 
was one of the .several prominent candidates for United States 
Senator to succeed Senator Dolph, and on one ballot he re- 
ceived 33 votes, 13 less than the necessar\- iuunl)er to an 



Address of I\Ir. MitchelL of Oregon. 75 

election. This contest ended by the election of Hon. George 
W. McBride at midnight of the last day of the session. Al- 
though not a candidate, his name was being widely and favor- 
ably discussed at the time of his death in connection with the 
election of United vStates Senator by the legislature that met 
the da}' succeeding his death. 

Mr. Tongue, in addition to his practice as a lawyer and his 
public duties, took a deep interest in various enterprises in his 
State. He was one of the organizers of the First National 
Bank of Hillsboro, ser^'ing as one of its directors. 

Mr. Tongue was a Past Master Mason. In 1888 he served 
as State orator, and in that year delivered the oration before 
the Grand Lodge. He also took an active interest in Odd Fel- 
lowship. He was also a member of the Grange in his home 
town. 

In all the affairs of life worldly interests are ever coming to 
the front with their selfish suggestions, and even in the pres- 
eilce of death, and before the opening tomb, they will not down, 
and hence it is we, in this solemn hour, are reminded of the 
incalculable loss to the State in the death of Thomas H. 
Tongue. But even this consideration is a high tribute to the 
memory of the dead. With a public record of which all the 
people of the State, irrespective of party, are justly proud, he 
had been commissioned by a very largeh- increased majority to 
continue as one of their public servants in the Fifty-eighth 
Congress. 

This fourth election was a well-deserved compliment, a just 
recognition of faithful and efficient public ser\'ice. No Repre- 
sentative from any State was ever more industrious or more 
watchful of the interests of his State or more alert in guarding 
at all points and at all times the rights and interests of the 
people he so abh- represented. His successful ser\-ices as a 



76 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

member of the Rivers and Harbors Committee of the House 
of Representatives in procuring needful appropriations for 
our rivers and harbors, not only of Oregon, but of the whole 
country, can not be overestimated and will not soon be 
forgotten. 

To him as chairman of the Committee on Irrigation of Arid 
I^ands is largely due the House legislation of last session of 
Congress upon the all-important subject of the irrigation of arid 
lands, while his indefatigable labors in securing passage through 
the House of the bill pensioning the Indian war veterans must 
stand forever as a bright jewel in his official record, and tears 
of affection and gratitude will attest the love of these grizzled 
and grateful veterans so long as any of them are permitted to 
live. Truly the State of Oregon in the death of Thomas H. 
Tongue has lost an able, faithful, and efficient Representative, 
her people a loyal, devoted friend. 

Mr. Tongue was a charming personality. He was devoted 
and constant in his friendships, unyielding in his loyalty to 
friends, uncompromising in his fidelity to every personal and 
political obligation. No consideration of personal or political 
advantage or preferment could induce him to swerve a hair's 
breadth from the line of his convictions. His personal integ- 
rity was never questioned. The legacy, public and private, he 
has left to his family is free from blot or stain. His public 
career, .so suddenly brought to an end by Him "Who doeth all 
things well," was, in .so far as he was permitted to pursue it, a 
complete success. From the day he entered upon his duties as 
a member of the Fifty-fifth Congress until summoned to a 
higher life, he gradually aud rapidly grew in influence, in the 
respect of his associates, and in the power to connuand results 
in the interest of his vState and of the nation. As a member of 
two among the most important conunittees of the House of 



Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Oregon. 77 

Representatives he was in a position to and did accomplish 
ninch of great benefit to his constituents. 

Mr. Tongue was a man of untiring industry. He never 
faltered, even before seemingly insurmountable obstacles, in 
honorable and earnest effort to accomplish his i)urpose. He was 
of that class who believe that "life without industry is guilt." 
He was ever ready to sacrifice personal comfort to advance the 
interests of his constituents as a whole, or to do a personal 
favor for the most huml)le of the number. Throughout Oregon 
to-day manv hearts are weeping and many eyes are moist with 
tears in grief over the sudden death of their honored Repre- 
sentative. 

Although suddenly stricken down in the prime of life and 
in the apparent noonday of a most honoral)le and successful 
public career, and when still higher honors .seemed beckoning 
to him from the future, Cicero's aphorism that "No one has 
lived a short life who has performed its duties with unblem- 
ished character" is truly applicable to Thomas H. Tongue. 
The nobilitv of a man's life can not be measured by the 
number of its >-ears. Good deeds, ^•irtuous acts, rather than 
white hairs or length of days, tell the true history of a man's 
life, and present an accurate record of his real character. 
"They onlv have lived long," says vSheridan, "who have 
lived virtuously." 

Mr. Tongue left to mourn his departure an aged father 
and mother, a widow and seven children — two boys and five 
girls. The elder son, K. B. Tongue, is a rising and successful 
lawyer in Hillsboro, Oreg., while his father's namesake, 
Thomas H. Tongue, jr., is now preparing for the law as a 
student at the Columbian University in this city. His daughter 
Edith is the wife of Hon. A. K. Reames, a prominent lawyer 
of Jack.sonville, Oreg.; Elizabeth is the wife of Frank F. 



78 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

Freeman, one of the leading nienil^ers of the bar of Portland, 
Oreg.; the other three accomplished daughters, Misses Mary, 
Bertha, and Florence, are unmarried, residing at home. 

In the death of Thomas H. Tongue I have experienced a 
great personal loss. For more than a generation we were 
intimate personal and political friends. In all my numerous 
political contests he was always my able, invaluable ally, my 
cordial, efficient supporter, my devoted, uncompromising friend. 
With a heart full of tears and overwhelmed with sorrow, I 
mourn the sudden transition of my departed friend, and my 
heart goes out in deep sympath>- to his bereaved and sorrow- 
stricken widow and children. 

"They who go feel not the pain of parting; it is the}' who stay behind 
that suffer. ' ' 

Friend after friend departs. 

Who hath not lost a friend ? 
There is no union here of hearts 

That finds not here an end. 
Were this frail world our onl}^ rest. 
Living and dying, none were blest. 

But, thanks to an All-wise Power, we are con.soled with the 
thought and the abiding belief that "this frail w'orld" is not 
" oiir only rest." 

This world is not conclusion. 

The sequel lies beyond. 
Invisible as music, 
But positive as sound. 

Answering the "one clear call," our friend has "crossed the 
bar." His bark has gone "out to sea," ])ut what a glorious 
realization it is, what a comfort and consolation the thought, 
that what is called death is not the end, but the beginning of 
life. It does not mean oblivion, but a glorious inunortality. 
" Death," the poet tells us, "is the gate of life." It is but the 
disrobing: of the mortal garments and the taking on of the 



Address of Mr. Mitchell, of Oregon. 79 

beautiful, the splendid, the imperishable habiliments of eternal 

life. It is the transition from a life of sorrow and care, of 

sickness and of death, to one of transcendent peace, of eternal 

rest, of endless life. 

His da}^ is come, not gone; 
His sun is risen, not set; 
His life is now beyond 
The reach of death or change — 
Not ended, but begun. 

Every soul, which since the beginning of time has been 

clothed with the destructible habiliments of this mortal life, 

has, as I believe, an inalienable, an indefeasible title to an 

immortal existence in the spirit world, and there among that 

innumerable host of immortals I confidently hope and expect 

some day to seek out and grasp the hand of my departed friend. 

Life's a short summer, man a flower; 
He dies — alas! how soon he dies! 



8o Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 



ADDRESS OF MR. TURNER, OF WASHINGTON. 

Mr. PrEvSIDENT: It is a melancholy pleasure to me to 
have the opportunity of paying a humble tribute to the 
memory of the distinguished man who is the subject of these 
resolutions. I knew him for a longer period, probably, than 
any member in either House of Congress except his two 
colleagues in this Chamber. M}' acquaintance with him 
began in the year 1884. He was then in the active practice of 
his profession, which was that of the law, and if he was not 
the foremost in his State in that noble profession, he was 
easily amongst the foremost. To say this of one is to say 
much, because it implies in him uncommon learning, excep- 
tional intellect, and a moral integrity beyond question or 
suspicion. 

No one not favored with these endowments, and with all of 
them, can become eminent in the legqd profession anywhere. 
IMr. Tongue possessed all of them and more. Of a modest 
and retiring disposition, he yet possessed a conscience which 
impelled him to come forward and a courage which enabled 
him to do so when private wrong suffered or public injury 
inflicted cried out for a champion to plead their cause. He 
was a tribune of the people, but not distinguished alone as a 
scourge of wrong. He had a kind, generous, and charitable 
heart and a mind quick and ardent to act on its impulses. He 
was as kindly as he was brave, and many arc left to testify to 
a tender sympathy and a generous support characteristic of 
the man. 

Such a man would have been strong in any comnuuiity. 
Such a man was doubly .strong in that pioneer community in 
the far West to which our departed friend had gone as a little 



Address of Mr. Turner, of Wasliington. 8i 

boy, had grown to manhood, and had hved in honor and repute 
to the day of his death, because it is in such a community that 
hfe presents its simplest problems and calls oftenest and most 
earnestly for the exercise of the primitive and fundamental 
virtues. So that when I first knew him- — now nearly twenty 
3'ears ago, as my neighbor across the line in the State of 
Oregon — he was not only eminent in his profession in that 
State and in my own, but he was an admitted leader among 
his fellows of all professions and avocations, carrying with 
him the honor, respect, and affection of all. 

He came to Congress rather late in life. This was not 
because of tardy recognition by his neighbors of his virtues 
and abilities, but because his private life was full of usefulness 
and of honor and answered all the aspirations of his modest 
and unassuming nature. The distinction of public life was 
not necessary to his happiness, and he sought it not. But it 
finally and inevitably sought him, and he answered its call as 
he had throughout all his arduous life answered every call to 
useful and noble endeavor made upon his energies and abilities 
by his fellows. Had he lived he would have attained marked 
distinction in the public life of the nation. As it was, during 
the comparativel}' short duration of his Congressional service 
he reached a position of power and influence among his fellows 
of the House of Representatives which easily entitled him to 
be called one of the leaders of that body. 

He brought to the performance of his duties there the same 
energy and ability and learning, the same conscientious devo- 
tion to dut}', and the same courage in its performance which 
had always characterized his private life and marked him as 
one to whom public distinction must necessarily come in this 
land where the only title deeds to preeminence are high moral 
and intellectual powers and attainments. 
H. Doc. 463 6 



82 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

His private virtues were as great as his public life at home, 
and in this Capitol was useful and distinguished. He was a 
loving husband, a kind and indulgent father, a true friend, 
a brave, chivalric. Christian gentleman. But he is with us no 
more. He has passed to that mansion house whose portals 
open only to the approaching guest, giving to those of us who 
look no glimpse of that which is beyond and leaving behind 
only a memory of the guest they have sheltered. We are all 
traveling the same road, and must tread the m\-sterious halls 
of that final abode. 

That it will be found to be a mansion of light and life and 
love Christian faith teaches us to believe, and a mysterious 
something in the inner consciousness of all mankind. Christian 
and heathen alike, confirms that belief. At any rate our 
fathers and mothers before us have trod the road and passed 
the portals with faith and courage, and why shotild not we ? 
That our departed friend did so we know. That he has entered 
on the reward of a life on earth well and nobh' spent we believe. 

With that knowledge and that belief we take leave of his 
person as of ' ' one that wraps the drapery of his couch about 
him and lies down to pleasant dreams." 

But the memory of his personality will remain with us 
through life, and the impulse of that personality, speaking out 
for good through countless ages like the ever-widening circle 
caused by the agitation of a silent pool, not only causes it to 
continue to live on earth, but gives evidence of a high design 
and ]nirpose which is the most convincing proof tliat it con- 
tinues to live in the great beyond. vSince we then nuist soon 
tread the road that he has trod and are prepared to face the 
dawn of the new and better day with the same joyful hope and 
confidence, we cry to our friend through the mist and across 
the gulf in the confident belief that he may hear our cry, not 
farewell, but an revoir. 



Address of Mr. Perkins, of California. 83 



Address of Mr. Perkins, of California. 

Mr. President: In the death of Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, 
representing the First Congressional district of the State of 
Oregon, Congress has lost one of its most active, useful, and 
respected members, and the country a man devoted to its best 
interests. In reviewing the career of this distinguished 
citizen of one of the great Pacific States, we, although we 
have in mind all the facts, can hardly fail of surprise at the 
vast changes that occurred during his comparatively short life. 

When Mr. Tongue was born, in 1844, the territor}^ of the 
United States did not reach to the Pacific. California was 
Mexican, and Ala.ska Ru.ssian. The strip between the 
California and Alaska boundaries was in dispute between the 
United States and Great Britain. British subjects controlled 
the trade of the Columbia River, and British settlements were 
found at very many places throughout the disputed territory. 
It was not until the year immediately preceding Mr. Tongue's 
birth that there was within this entire region any American 
influence of conseqtience. But at this time large bodies of 
Americans, traveling overland, marched down the valley of the 
Columbia, and made it manifest by long rifles that American 
interests had come to stay. It was not until Mr. Tongue was 
2 years old that the territory comprising the populous State of 
Oregon, which he was in part to represent in the Congress of 
the United States, became in fact American by the treaty with 
Great Britain fixing the disputed boundary at the forty-ninth 
degree of north latitude. Not until then did the wild regions 
explored by the intrepid Lewis and Clarke come under the 
protection of the American flag. 



84 I^ifc ciiid Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

The Americanization of the Pacific coast began, it may be 
said, the year Mr. Tongue was born. The immigrants from 
the States had then established themselves, and from that time 
American energy and resourcefulness began to make themselves 
felt. In four years after the boundary question was .settled 
there were over 13,000 Americans in the Columbia River 
region, and at the time when Mr. Tongue, a boy of 9 years of 
age, fir.st saw Oregon it had a population of about 50,000. 
The very year that he reached this far Western outpost of the 
United States Oregon became itself a State, and all its subse- 
quent growth and development took place beneath his eyes. 

During Mr. Tongue's bo3^hood and early manhood Oregon 
was practically isolated from the rest of the world. The ocean 
traffic of the Atlantic States was with Europe or with China 
and India. An occasional vessel would take the long voyage 
around the Horn to California or Oregon for a cargo of hides, 
or later ships might come up from Australia or over from 
Canton to take wheat to Liverpool. But of sea-borne foreign 
commerce Oregon had practically none. Yet the sea was the 
only practicable outlet for trade, the State being shut off by 
mountain ranges from the Missouri Valley on the east and 
from California on the south. Still through this period of Mr. 
Tongue's life the State steadily grew in population and new 
industries added constantly to its wealth. Where, in 1844, 
there was practically a wilderness in which the brutish Indian, 
described by Lewis and Clarke, outnumbered the ci\-ilized 
Caucasian, schools and colleges were established, and young 
Tongue in them received an education which later made him 
a power in public life. Though he became a lawyer and 
entered zealously into the practice of his profession, he was 
one of those who assisted practically in developing the resources 
and adding to the industries of the new State. When he was 



Address of Mr. Perkins, of CaUfornia. 85 

6 years old Oregon produced only 7,400 tons of cereals. Fifty 
years later it produced nearly 600,000 tons, and in this 
enormovTS increase the influence of Mr. Tongue was not 
lightly felt. 

Mr. Tongue was just entering upon middle life when the 
isolation of his State was broken by the advent of that great 
promoter of growth and civilization — the railroad. First the 
Northern Pacific blasted its way through the Rocky Mountains. 
Later came the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific from the 
East, and the Southern Pacific from California, and Oregon 
for the first time found itself in actual touch with the world. 
It was about this time that Mr. Tongue began to take an 
active interest in public affairs which led him through the 
senate of his own State to the Congress of the United States. 
At the time he was elected a Representative from the First 
Congressional district of Oregon the people of that State 
looked eastward for their business future. To the East, over 
the iron rails, or around the Horn by steamship, went the 
products of the State, for in the East and Europe were the 
markets. But before Mr. Tongue's first term expired there 
had occurred a revolution in public opinion as to where 
Oregon's future lay. Suddenly and without warning all eyes 
were turned from the East toward the West, from the popu- 
lous States of the Mississippi Valley and the Atlantic sea- 
board to China and Japan. 

The planting of the American flag on an Asiatic island at 
once made clear to all men that in the Orient are the markets 
that must eventually absorb the surplus products of the Pacific 
coast. Between Asia, with its hundreds of millions of con- 
sumers, and the western coast of the United States, which, 
when Mr. Tongue was born, was practically a wilderness, 
there seemed to be created a commercial bond by the mere 



86 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

fact that Americans had established themselves on the Asiatic 
side of the Pacific. The energ}', the enterprise, and the cap- 
ital of the people were at once turned from the East to the 
West. The Pacific Ocean suddenly seemed -to become nar- 
rower. New steamship lines were established, and still more 
were projected; trade connections were made in China and 
Japan; business arrangements were entered into with reference 
to the development of oriental traffic, and the first step to- 
ward realizing that long dream of a trans-Pacific cable was 
taken when a line to the Hawaiian Islands was opened. 

All these vast changes occurred during the five years that 
elapsed from the time Mr. ToxGUE took his seat in the House 
until his death. They were ^-ears during which occurred great 
events, not the least of which is the awakening of the world of 
trade to the realization of the vast prizes which Asiatic nations 
hold out to commerce. The western shore of our continent 
begins to exhibit the activity, bustle, and energy of the eastern. 
All energy is exerted on westward lines across the Pacific, and 
the great ocean which, when Mr. Tongue first took his seat in 
Congress was looked upon as a barrier to prosperity, is now 
regarded as the blessed means whereby increased prosperity 
can be secured. 

As commerce by sea has received an impetus w^hich will soon 
bring the Pacific Ocean under the control of the United States, 
there was made evident the necessity for the improvement of 
the harbors of the coast, and in this work Mr. ToxGui-: took 
an eager interest and an active part. As a member of the 
Committee on Rivers and Harbors he had to deal with ques- 
tions that vitally concerned the future of trans-Pacific com- 
merce. Realizing fully the im])()rtance of proper facilities and 
safeguards for navigation, he was most earnest in his endeavors 
to throw o]-)en every harl)or and place along the coast warning 



Address of ]\Ir. Perkins, of California. 87 

signals of danger. For his successful work the entire Pacific 
coast from San Diego to Point Barrow will forever be his 
debtor. Bvit in the wise expenditure of the hundreds of 
millions of dollars which this committee recommended, the 
Atlantic coast was benefited as well, and the entire country 
felt the beneficial effects of the work in which Mr. Tongue 
took so important a part. American commerce, domestic and 
foreign, has been aided b}- his labors, and his death will be 
deplored by the thousands who live upon the ocean, as well as 
by the people of Oregon and his coworkers in the Congress of 
the United States. 

We extend to his bereaved family and friends our heartfelt 
SN'mpathy. Ma}- they find consolation in the thought, so 
beautifully expressed by one of America's poets: 

There is no death; the stars go down, 

To rise upon some other shore; 
And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown 

Thev shine forever more. 



Life and Character of Thomas H . Tongue. 



Address of Mr. Dubois, of Idaho, 

Mr. President: The act of Providence in the sudden 
taking away of the nniversall}- respected Representative in 
Congress from the State of Oregon, Hon. Thomas H. Tongue, 
is the carrying out of the unalterable law, to which we humbly 
bow with submission and regret. 

By this sad event the faniih' is bereft of a loving husband, 
son, and father; the community of Hillsboro, Oreg. , of a kind 
neighbor and a loyal friend; the State of Oregon of a faithful 
and conservative guide; the nation of a painstaking and useful 
lawmaker. 

Honored by his district and his Commonwealth, he lived .so 
that by his deeds he has given back to tho.se who called him 
into public service a full measure of the honor that will .serve 
to keep his memory fresh in the years to come. Now that he 
is no more, his example .serves to reflect the sentiment that 
man is in no degree measured by his years on earth, but b}'' 
that which he accomplishes for mankind during his earthly 
sojourn. 

The late Representative Tongue spent the major portion of 
his eventful life as an honored citizen of his adopted State 
of Oregon. He spent his boyhood days in the same neighbor- 
hood where he was repeatedly honored. His early years were 
spent amid.st the hardships of toil and labor and obstacle 
which confront every young man of the West who is ushered 
into life without the luxurious environments that .so often 
dwarf a career of genuine, practical usefulness. His educa- 
tional attainments were of the ordinary character, but, armed 
with a full share of industry and energy, his courage and 
indefatigable zeal and aml)ili()n ser\-ed to 1)U()v him onward 



Address of Mr. Dubois, of Idaho. 89 

and upward, until he surmounted all obstacles and reared for 
himself a name and fame that will honor his memory and 
leave its lasting imprint upon the minds of his neighbors, his 
clientage, and his fellow-countrymen. 

He was ever alert and loyal to duty, sincere and devoted 
to principle, and zealous in his preservation of that lofty moral 
standard which is the idol of a discerning and appreciative 
public. 

Scarcely fifteen years ago his constituency called him from 
the theretofore active practice of his profession into the public 
arena, first as a senator in his State legislature, and later to 
a seat in the National House of Representatives from the 
First district of Oregon. 

He had always been intensely loyal to and proud of his 
State, and defended in the halls of Congress, with superior 
ability and unswerving industry, all legislation for its ad- 
vancement and the development of its material resources. 

To the solution of the great problem of irrigation of the 
broad wastes of arid land which cover the promising West, 
our lamented brother was a devoted friend. The beneficiaries 
of the recent legislation, so diligently and wisely framed by 
the Representatives of the great and growing West, remember 
with a deep sense of appreciation the wise and conservative 
counsel of Representative Tongue, and future generations who 
are to occupy those lands, convert the now barren w^astes into 
rich farms, flourishing orchards, and consequent happy homes, 
will place his name high upon the scroll of honor as one who 
substantially aided to make progress and development in 
Nature's barren desert realistic to a degree of high perfection. 

It might be proper in this unpremeditated eulogy of mine 
that I should embody a statement of some of the events which 
led to the enactment of the national irrigation law which is 



go Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue. 

to be of such great benefit to the conntr\- at large, and 
especially .to the West, with which legislation the name of 
Representati\-e Tongue will alwa3-s be intimately associated. 

Realizing full well the possibilities of what has been called 
the desert portion of the United States, the Representatives 
from that section have labored for legislation. Our Eastern 
and Southern friends in Congress were not familiar with condi- 
tions, while those of the Middle West were but partially so. 
In Congress after Congress Representatives and Senators from 
the arid and semiarid region presented bills for the inauguration 
of a national system of irrigation, but in the confusion incident 
to so many numerous projects those who were not familiar with 
the subject were unable to decide which was the best. 

So all of the Representatives from the semiarid and arid 
States and Territories met in caucus on the first night of the 
first session of the present Congress. Each State and Territory 
selected one of its number to compose a committee of seventeen, 
which should represent all the arid and semiarid States and 
Territories. Mr. Tongue was made the representative of his 
State on that committee of sev^enteen; and to his wise counsel, 
his conservatism, and his singleness of purpose to frame a law 
which should be lasting and effective is largely due the passage 
of this great measure. Then, as chairman of the Committee 
on Irrigation of the House of Representatives, he was given an 
opportunity to render effective aid to this momentous work. 

Likewise did he labor for an open waterway down the 
Columbia River, which traverses the rich fields and towering 
forests of his State from east to west, and which will give to the 
prosperous wheat growers pf my own State, as well as his, 
easy, cheap, and accessible transportation to the ocean for the 
immense crops of grain that adorn the fields of Oregon, Idaho, 
and Washington. 



Address of Mr. Dubois, of Idaho. 91 

Sad indeed it is, that with these and myriads of other use- 
ful and progressive features of legislation which were the 
dreams of his ambition, the sickle of Time should have so 
ruthlessly entered our councils and mowed down one so 
anxious to strive, to labor, and to accomplish results that 
would redound to the convenience, the comfort, and the up- 
building of the community upon which great and mighty 
foundation the Government of ovir nation rests and is destined 
so unmovably to repose until time shall be no more. 

Speaking purely as a Western legislator, I can sa}^ in him 
the great resourceful West has lost a loyal, faithftil, honest 
lawmaker, one who had a deep sensibility of the great possi- 
bilities of those undeveloped areas which posterity will li\-e 
to realize, and they will join us and succeeding generations in 
giving just praise to those who ministered in da^-s gone by to 
the material growth and development of their native land. 

Here amid the bustling scenes of Congressional life, where 
members come and go and are lost and forgotten, his memory 
ma}' not alwa3's remain fresh and green, btit the splendid 
results of his honest toil will shine in the great Pacific North- 
west as a lasting monument to the honored name of Thomas 

H. TOXGUE. 

In Shakespearean verse — 

All the world's a stage, 
And all the men and women merely players. 
They have their exits and their entrances; 
And one man in his time plays many parts. 

So with our respected friend. He was ushered in on the 

stage of life to play his part. He played it well. His exit we 

pause to note with deep regreat and a profound regard for the 

words of Job of old, that when death comes the body returns 

to the dtist from whence it came and the immortal spirit to the 

God who gave it. 



92 Life and Character of Thomas H. Tongue, 



Address of Mr, Simon, of Oregon. 

Mr. President: My colleague [Mr. Mitchell] and the other 
distinguished members of the Senate who have preceded me 
have spoken so fully and so eloquently of the life and public 
services of the late Representative Thomas H. Tongue, that 
there remains but little for me to add. These tributes of 
praise and words of commendation of him "who sleeps his 
last sleep" will find an echo in the hearts of thousands of his 
friends where rest the immortal remains in far-away Oregon. 
However, I can not refrain from occupying the attention of 
the Senate for a few moments in order that I may give expres- 
sion to my sorrow, and I, too, may lay a laurel wreath upon 
the tomb of our departed friend. 

It is fitting that we should pause to pay tribute to the moral 
worth and tireless energy of him who has passed to the other 
shore; to this man of humble origin, the farmer's boy, who 
worked his way through college, and who, 'by indomitable 
perseverance and pluck, made for himself a reputation as one 
of the foremost lawyers of his State, developed into an orator 
of marked ability, and made himself a power in the political 
affairs of his Commonwealth and of the nation. From the 
plow to the university, and from his alma mater to an envi- 
able position as a shining light in that profession which ha.s 
given jurists and statesmen to the world, are achievements of 
which the most favored may well be proud, and are evidejices 
of that innate and inheritecl Anglo-Saxon grit which has given 
free institutions to the human race. 

My relations with Mr. ToxGUK were always cordial and 
friendly. I enjoyed his friendship for a quarter of a century. 



Address of Mr. Simon, of Oregon. 93 

I knew him at the bar, and I knew him as a legislator. As I 
knew Mr. Tongue he was a man of simple habits, uno.stenta- 
tious and of modest demeanor. While entertaining strong 
and positive opinions upon all public questions, and well able 
to intelligently and forcibly debate them, he preferred that 
others should engage in the lists, and avoided forensic contests 
unless he was specialh- called upon to enter the arena. For 
this reason he did not often appear in the discussions of the 
House; but when he did he was clear, earnest, and direct in 
the presentation of his views, and in debate was alwa^•s an 
impressive speaker. 

Mr^ Tongue was a native of England , where he was born 
June 23, 1S44. He attended the .schools of his native land 
ifntil he reached the age of 15 years, when his parents emi- 
grate to Washington County, Oreg., taking with them their 
only child, Thomas H. Tongue. The family located on a 
farm near Hillsboro, in that State, and there young Tongue 
resided, working on the farm when not attending school or 
college, until he arrived at man's estate. He had had fairly 
good advantages in the English schools, and as soon as he 
arrived in Oregon he worked incessantly to acquire a finished 
education. He determined to take a college course, but owing 
to financial difficulties he succeeded only after surmounting 
many obstacles in realizing his ambition, and then onl)- by 
working his way through college. Upon receiving his degree 
he read law, and in due time was admitted to the bar. He at 
once actively entered upon and continued in the practice of his 
profession until his death, interrupted only b>- his temporary 
absence from home attending the sessions of the several Con- 
gresses of which he was a member. He was \^xy much 
attached to the study of law, and was peculiarly fitted 
for the practice of the profession, in which he won marked 



94 Life ^^i<i Character of Thovias H. Fcviq^uc. 

distinction. He rapidly Ijuilt up a large and lucrative business, 
and it was a common saying that Mr. Tongue was on one 
side or the other of every important cause in the county and 
circuit in which he practiced. 

Mr. Tongue did not enter political life until after he had 
made a reputation as a lawyer. Aside from his Congressional 
career the only political office held by him was a term of four 
years in the Oregon State senate. It was ni}- privilege to 
serve with him as a member of that body, and I then learned 
to know and appreciate the character and ability of otir deceased 
friend. His work as impressed upon the acts of the legislature 
of Oregon stand as a monument to the care, industry, and 
ability displayed by him while serving in that body. 

In 1896 he was elected to the Fifty-fifth Congress and was 
reelected to each succeeding one, including the Fifty-eighth, 
and always by increased pluralities. As a member of the House 
he was indefatigable in working for Oregon, and during the 
six years in which he served in Congress he never lost an 
opportunity to advance the interests of his district or State. 
As a member of the Rivers and Harbors Conunittee of the 
House he was in position to materially serve every section of 
the State, and was an influential factor in securing much- 
needed appropriations for the rivers and harbors of Oregon. 
In national affairs, although .strongly attached to his party, 
his judicial mind and mental discipline in the intricate questions 
of law made him an earnest and successful legislator. 

Mr. Tongue loved and faithfully .served the people of his 
district, and, as a reward for the faithful performance of his 
duty, they loved him and delighted to honor him. No stronger 
evidence of this fact can be produced than the constantly 
increasing vote given him in his successive elections to the 
Hou.se. 



Address of Mr. Simon, of Oi-egon. gc 

The sad and untimely death of Mr. Tongue; was a great 
shock to his friends and constituency, and an irretrievable loss 
to his family and colleagues. But while we recount his virtues 
with deep regret for his untimely demise, there are sadder 
thoughts in the minds and more darkened chambers 'in the 
hearts of a faithful wife and loving children who mourn his 
departure. An affectionate husband has been stricken down 
by the reaper Death, and a loving father has fallen a victim 
to the pale horse and its rider. 

Our friend has gone before, but his good deeds, his upright 
life, his faithfulness in the performance of all duties, and the 
influence of his kindly smile will ever be remembered by those 
with whom he came in contact. 

None knew him bi;t to love him; 
None named him but to praise. 

Life is not measured by the flight of years, but by great 
actions and grand achievements. Mr. Tox^^GUK won victories 
after hard-fought battles, when he left the plow for the college, 
when he succeeded in the profession of law, and last, but 
perhaps the greatest, when his name was placed on the roll 
call of the Congress of the United States, the most popular 
and renowned deliberative body in the world. These are 
milestones in his eventful career which will be rehearsed by 
loving hearts for long years to come. 

In his relations to his Creator he was devout and sincere; as 
a husband, tender and affectionate; as a father, wise and lov- 
ing; as a citizen, earnest and patriotic, and as a friend, firm 
and faithful. To sum up his well-rounded character in a 
single sentence, he worshiped God and loved his fellow-man. 
For such there is no oblivion. The "pictures hung on mem- 
ory's walls" grow brighter with the lap.se of years, and love 



96 Life imd Character of Tlwvias H. Tcvigue. 

entwines each act and achievement with fresh garlands as the 
months melt into years and the years melt into decades. 

There is no death. 
What seems so is transition; 

This life of mortal breath 
Is but a suburb of the life elvsian, 

Whose portal we call death. 

Mr. President, I ask for the adgption of the resolutions 
offered by my colleague. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and (at i 
o'clock and 57 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned. 

■ O 



"^^ 



